Dancing with Fate
by Flowers For No One
Summary: A stranger gives Christine a chance to relive her life. This time, however, everything has been changed. The situations have been reversed and nobody is the same. How will the tale go this time? And it seems like there are forces at work behind the scenes...
1. Chapter 1

_None will ever be a true Parisian who has not learned to wear a mask of gaiety over his sorrows and one of sadness, boredom or indifference over his inward joy._

_In Paris, our lives are one masked ball…_

-Gaston Leroux

* * *

The Vicomtesse leaned back against the pillows as she stared through the window. She observed as a few snowflakes danced against the glass. She watched as visions of the past drifted by with the snow.

_A haunting voice echoing in the darkness. A furious duel in a graveyard_._ A promise for a life full of light._ The Vicomtesse shut her eyes against the memories and sighed. She desperately wished that she had something to do right now. Then she would not have so much time to dwell on her thoughts.

The Vicomtesse flinched when she felt a hand land on her shoulder. Her eyes flew open and the Vicomtesse was greeted with the sight of a young man with short blond hair and warm blue eyes.

"Mother! Are you alright!?" the worried young man asked.

The Vicomtesse frowned.

"Charles! For the last time, I am well! Please refrain from making the assumption that my death is linked to the closing of my eyes!" Her throat began to burn and she coughed violently. The son blushed in embarrassment and took her hand as he gently patted her back.

"My apologies, mother. I was simply very afraid. I do not know how we are going to handle things without you." The boy held her hand tightly. The Vicomtesse's eyes softened.

"You truly are like your father when he was younger," she looked back towards the window and smiled gently, "I believe you shall be fine. You are not alone after all. Phillip and Charlotte will be with you. Besides, my health is not _that _terrible. I think I shall survive for quite a while."

The son looked away and sadly sighed."I still feel very uneasy nevertheless. I keep having this niggling fear that death's phantom is going to steal you away at any moment and take you to the underworld."

The Vicomtesse inwardly cringed. There are some things that will always continue to haunt her.

Charles stood up with glazed eyes, oblivious to the emotional turmoil he unknowingly caused, and shook his head as if to keep himself awake. "My apologies, I should not be talking about death." he glanced down at his silver watch and quickly moved towards the door. "Oh no! I am late! Farewell mother, I have to go have dinner with Laura!"

The door was shut and the Vicomtesse was alone once more. She shook her head and gave a small smile. Yes, Charles was very much like Raoul in his youth. With thoughts of lost red scarves, the Vicomtesse closed her eyes again and drifted into slumber.

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Something is wrong.

The room was covered in darkness when the Vicomtesse woke up. She could tell something was amiss the moment she opened her eyes.

For one thing, she was in _excruciating_ pain and a certain coldness has pervaded the air. It felt as if there were millions of needles piercing her body. The old woman wanted to scream, but only the quietest of sounds came out of her mouth. Panic infested her body like a disease.

No. _No. No! Please, someone! Anyone! I can't be alone!_

Tears started spilling out of her eyes as the fear consumed her. Her heart beating faster and faster until...everything stopped. The coldness was still there, but the pain was gone. The Vicomtesse looked around in confusion. She was still lying on the same bed, in the same room, but everything felt...off.

Suddenly, she heard rustling from the far end of her room. The sound came closer and closer and the Vicomtesse felt the tendrils of horror wrapping themselves around her again. As the sounds came closer though, a shape started to form as well.

It stopped at the foot of her bed. With the shadows and her weak vision working against her, she could not make out the form, but she could tell it was a man. He had dark skin and wore a sandy-colored robe. It appeared that there were some objects attached to the man's back. Silence hung between them and was shattered as the man began to speak.

"Hello Miss Daae." The figure spoke with a foreign accent.

The old woman raised an eyebrow. She couldn't place where the accent was from, but it seemed familiar. The Viscountesse stomped on her fear and focused on trying to find out who this man was.

"How dare you intrude into my home! Who are you?" she demanded.

The man gave a slight chuckle. "Did the wings not give it away?" Her eyes widened.

So _that_ is what those two shapes on his back were, but they were not the color of white. If anything, they were grey and much closer to black... Fear seized her for a moment before she shoved it aside. She schooled her features into a mask of indifference.

"So, monsieur, has the jury decided on hell?" she asked coolly. If God has made his decision, she might as well face it dignified. The shape cringed. Although his face was a blur, she could almost see the resentment on his face.

"No, they have not. I am NOT a demon!" The man paused for a bit and then relaxed, "I am sorry for the outburst Miss Daae, but you are very mistaken. I am, however, here to make you an offer."

The Vicomtesse grimaced at the last word. Well, this most certainly cannot be good. In fact, it seems frighteningly familiar. A man who may be an angel hiding in the darkness of her room... She shook her head. This must be a dream of some sort. Nevertheless, she should tread carefully.

"My name, monsieur, is Christine de Chagny. No one has addressed me as Daae for a very long time."

The man scoffed.

"No one calls you by that either. Everyone only addresses you by title. Madame, Mother, Viscountesse. The last time someone has called you by name was when the Baroness was still alive." the man bluntly replied.

"What?"

Pain seared up in her chest again at the mention of her dear friend. She could feel the tears struggling to get free. No. The Viscountesse will not allow herself to indulge in the sadness. Especially in an incredibly shady circumstance such as this. Anger replaced pain and fury seeped into her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but the man abruptly sighed and continued.

"You two are so similar." The Vicomtesse raised an eyebrow at the cryptic statement. The man ignored her and came closer to her. "Besides the point, Miss Daae, don't you want to change that? A chance to regain your identity. A way...to change the past."

"Pa-pardon me?" she asked in a confused daze. The man turned his back towards her.

"I asked if you would like a second chance, Miss Daae. From what I have seen from your life, you have made quite a few mistakes that you would like to fix, correct?"

The Vicomtesse felt a chill go down her spine. Her mind was racing as she began to think of the implications of such a promise. A second chance? Such a prize is not to be taken lightly...or freely.

"Tell me monsieur, does this "second chance" require the sale of my soul?" the Vicomtesse questioned as she narrowed her eyes at him. The man turned around again.

"No, no souls. No payment of any kind in fact. To require payment is to assure the customer that they will get something in return." The man started to pace around the room. "I am no genie, Miss Daae. All I can do is offer you a chance. Whether or not you will use that chance to your full advantage is entirely up to you." The Viscountesse frowned.

"So, you are willing to give this second chance to me with no strings attached?" The man paused for a moment.

"Well, there are no strings attached per say, but there might be some new changes to your past, the effect of second chances."

"What sort of new changes?" the Viscountesse asked suspiciously. The man stiffened.

"Changes. Anyway, do you wish to accept my offer or not?" The man gestured towards her. "Either way, you can't come back. Your time here has ended."

The Viscountesse clenched her hands as the finality dawned on her. She was going to leave whether or not she wanted to. The cogs of her mind were turning.

It wasn't like she was going lose anything if she decided to partake in this endeavor and she _does_ have everything to gain... She looked straight at the man's face.

"Very well then, I accept." The man grinned.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you, Miss Daae."

* * *

...and that's the first chapter. Yay! Yeah, this is my first fanfiction ever. Hopefully the story will turn out well. Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review! Edit: The Baroness de Barbazac is Meg by the way. She married a Baron in the book.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Oh, I probably should have said this in the other chapter, but this version of Christine is going to be fairly different from the Christine we all know from the movie or the book. Years of living in Parisian society has changed her. As indicated in the quote of the first chapter, masks are needed in order to live in that society. Christine has worn her mask a bit too well. She's the Viscountesse and she seems to be very alone. What happened to her? Christine's past as the Viscountesse will be revealed later. All you need to know now is that this Christine is less naive and tends to question things more.

Additional Note: I've decided to make some short edits here and there. I don't have anyone proofreading my work, so quite a few mistakes might have slipped through without my realization. Again, reviews are very helpful. I am still working on the third chapter. Hopefully that will be up in two or three days.

* * *

"So, how will this work, monsieur?" asked the Viscountesse as she clenched her blanket. The man chuckled.

"No need to be so nervous, Miss Daae. Everything shall be fine." The man held out his hand and helped the Viscountesse up from her bed. "Now, just stand in the center of the room with me and do not let go of my hand under any circumstances. Do you understand?"

"Yes." The man nodded and held her hand tightly.

There was a moment of utter silence before the man started to chant in a language she did not recognize. As his voice echoed throughout the room, a golden ring with numerous symbols on it appeared around them. Everything outside of the circle slowly faded in to the darkness. The Vicomtesse held on to the man's hand even tighter. She had a sudden fear that perhaps she should not have agreed after all.

It seemed the universe in that moment had heard her fear and decided to agree.

All of the sudden a screeching, inhuman wail pierced the Vicomtesse's ears. She wanted nothing more than to cover her ears, but the man kept a tight grip on her hands. She watched as the golden ring turned into a copper color. The inky abyss that had surrounded them has now dissolved into a bright red canvas with dancing human shadows. The man hissed in pain.

"Damn! He found out!" The Vicomtesse stiffened beside him.

That sounded very suspicious! Dear God, why did she do this again? Did she really think this will turn out well? Things have always turned out well when she accepts offers from beings claiming to be angels in total darkness!

The man fell to his knees, dragging the Visountesse down with him. His grip on her as tight as ever. Her hand felt like it was loosing blood circulation. The man was gasping.

"Remember Miss Daae, do not let go of my hand no matter what!" The floor beneath them started to shake.

"What is going on!?" the Viscountesse questioned. The man did not answer. Suddenly, a strong invisible force pushed against her. It seemed as if it was trying to push her out of the ring.

_Do not let go._

While she was not inclined to, she had no choice in the matter. She felt her hand slip through the man's. She was pushed out of the ring and into the red abyss. The Viscountesse watched as the dancing shadows followed after her descent. Fear clouded her heart as she watched them come closer and closer...

Then, a bright light shot out. The figures and the redness faded back into the darkness. The Viscountesse could feel herself lose consciousness as she fell. The last image she saw was the shape clothed in light flying towards her.

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_"Oh, thank God you saved her!"_

_"My friend, you shouldn't have done this. You shouldn't have manipulated so many people. Now that _he_ knows what you have been doing, he will come after you."_

_"I knew what the dangers were before I started all of this. You do not need to remind me."_

_"That human you are trying to save is not worth the effort."_

_"That is _none_ of your business. Now, hand me Miss Daae and go away."_

_"I wish you could see that I care for you. I do not want to be your enemy, but this darkness is starting to consume you."_

_"Wait, what are you doing?!"_

_"Do not worry, I will bring Miss Daae to her intended destination. However, I will not allow you to try and manipulate events any further. Goodbye."_

_"NO!"_  
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It felt like a bag of bricks fell on her head. The Viscountesse groaned and slowly opened her eyes. The sight that greeted her was a medium sized room. The walls were painted in a baby blue color and the window had nice white curtains with seashell patterns on them. She was lying on a twin sized bed. Little by little, she got up. Her body was very sore.

As she got a better view of the room, she noticed that it was fairly empty. Besides the bed, she saw a large dark brown drawer, a coffee table, and a white vanity table. The only reason she knew that this must be her room was that she saw there were pictures of her with her father on the coffee table.

To gather more information, the Viscountesse walked over to the vanity table and gazed into the mirror. She saw a young girl with long curly brown hair and a matching set of eyes. Her face was emptied of all wrinkles. From the appearance, it seemed that she could be from the age range of about seventeen to nineteen. The Viscountesse froze at that thought. Wasn't she about that age when Erik revealed himself to her? She quickly banished the thought from her head as she observed some more.

She looked down at her clothes. It looks like she is wearing some maid outfit of some sort. As she looked around her, everything clicked in.

The man did say there would be some changes in this timeline. Does this mean that instead of being a ballerina, she is now a maid? While she did not particularly mind being a maid, something seemed off. Is there a reason for the switch? And, if she is a maid, then why was she living in this room? This room seemed too nice for a maid.

If there was one thing Parisian society has taught her, it would be that there are always a reason to every situation. Any information of this new timeline might useful. She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to work through what was going on.

She should answer the question of why she was a maid first. Was there something wrong with her legs? She had an okay time walking to the vanity table, but maybe the possible injury only hinders more animated movements? She sat back down on the bed to check if there is indeed an injury. She gasped in horror.

There were numerous scars all over her legs. And they did not just end there. She quickly looked over her body. The scars continue until halfway up her stomach. There were also quite a few on her arms. It seems like only her face and back was saved from any damage. What happened? Did she get hit by a carriage or something? She heard shuffling outside of her door. The Viscountesse quickly laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.

The door opened to reveal a lady with dark brown hair tied in a bun. Her cane hitting the floor as she walked. The Viscountesse stiffened at the sound. She had not heard that sound for many years. It still striked fear in her heart. Madame Giry kneeled down next to the Viscountesse's bed. The Viscountesse opened her eyes. Madame Giry glanced at her with eyes full of surprise and concern. The Viscountesse felt her heart clenched as she stared into a face she has not seen in over thirty years.

"Christine! You are awake! We were all worried that you may not wake up." Madame Giry hugged her tightly.

The Viscountesse frowned at the statement. They thought she would not wake up? This is fairly alarming. She needed information now. She took a deep breath and snuffed out all the painful emotions that were rising up from seeing the woman who took her in as an orphan.

"Pardon me, Madame, but may I please be informed on what has occurred?" the Viscountesse asked in her business voice.

All she wanted to do is cry and tell her how much she and Meg had missed her, but doing so would label her as insane and that would not be supportive of her goal. Madame Giry gave her a confused look.

"Why are you speaking differently?" Madame Giry paused for a moment when she saw Christine winced from her headache and then started to panic. "Oh, no! Poor Christine! Oh, you poor thing. I am so sorry dear. Your head must still be hurting!" Madame Giry held her hand and patted her head. "Here, let me go get some medicine for you and you can rest a little bit more." Madame Giry said as she walked out of the room.

The Vicomtesse stared after her bewilderedly. This is odd, the Madame Giry she remembered was not like this. Even when she was sick Madame Giry did not coddle her that much. Though, it does seem like she is still as good as ever at not answering questions. She sighed in a frustrated manner as Madame Giry walked back in.

"Christine? Are you upset?" asked Madame Giry has she brought some medicine and cup of water right next to the bed. The Vicomtesse reflexively wore her mask.

"No, Madame. I am well. You have my most sincerest gratitude for your care. May I have an answer to my earlier query?" the Vicomtesse silently berated herself. She is now in her later teen years. From what she can recalled, she did not talk like that. Madame Giry is really going to think there is something wrong with her mind.

"Oh dear! Are you sure you are well? You are speaking to me as if you do not know me." Madame Giry suddenly gasped as the Vico- no, ex-Vicomtesse realized that she may never get her answer. "Christine, have you lost your memories?!"

The ex-Vicomtesse considered her question carefully. It is true that she has no memory whatsoever of this new timeline. So yes, she has technically "lost" her memories. The ex-Vicomtesse gave her a scared rabbit look.

"Oh no! You are correct! It seems I may have lost my memories! Perhaps if you tell me what has occurred I may regain some of them back!" Madame Giry looked at her apologetically.

"Oh, I am sorry dear. I will answer your question-" the ex-Vicomtesse inwardly cheered, but her hopes were suddenly dashed by the next set of words. "-in a moment. Could you please tell me what you remember?"

Damn it Madame Giry, why is she so good at avoiding answers!? No wonder she was the phantom's box keeper in the original timeline!

The ex-Vicomtesse sighed as she thought of what to say.

"My last memory is coming to the opera house after my father died. I do not remember anything after that." Madame Giry gazed at her in shock.

"What? But that was six years ago! Oh, poor Christine. A lot has happened since then." The ex-Vicomtesse felt dread at that statement, but she needed to know.

"What has happened?"

"Oh Christine. In the beginning I had you as part of the ballet corps. You and Meg used to be together all the time back then." Madame Giry sighed. "But there was...an accident... that occurred when you turned fifteen. You fell down from a balcony of a four storied building. It was miracle that you were able to walk again. But, you could no longer be a ballerina. I managed to convince the managers to keep you on as a maid, occasionally helping the costume department if the need arises."

The ex-Vicomtesse quietly absorbed the information. Her life sounded depressing. She looked back at Madame Giry.

"Thank you very much for telling me." Madame Giry gazed at her sadly.

"Well I-" she was quickly interrupted as another person entered the room and slammed the door.

"Damn it! Mother, I cannot believe you broke your promise again!" the blonde haired girl huffed angrily. "You said you would be there! Instead I find you-" she abruptly paused as she saw Christine was awake. Her eyes turned to ice.

"Oh, hello Christine. You are awake." Meg Giry turned back to her mother. "I do not know why you bother panicking. She faints all the time. She should be used to being unconscious by now! Maybe if you stopped coddling her so much, a little sandbag to the head wouldn't have kept her out for two days!"

The young woman with brunette hair gazed back at her departed friend's face and felt an agonizing pain in her chest._ It seems like she hates me in this timeline._

Madame Giry frowned at Meg and pounded her cane on the floor. Both flinched at the sound.

"Meg Giry! I thought I taught you better than this! Christine did not wake up for two days and she is not well! Apologize to her _now_!" The ex-Vicomtesse blinked at Madame Giry's sudden shift into ballet teacher mode. This is the Madame Giry that she is familiar with.

"But-" Meg stammered as tears threatened to pour out of her eyes. Madame Giry only continued to give her a shattering glare.

"I said apologize!" Meg put her head down in embarrassment as she turned back to Christine.

"I am sorry." Meg apologized. Madame Giry looked at her coolly.

"Now, if you have time to go around complaining about others, then you have time to go practice ballet. Yesterday you were incredibly sloppy at practice! You called that dancing? You were off sync with the music and you still had issues with that move we have been going over. Even though I told you about them countless of times, you probably made the same mistakes again at today's performance! Instead of whining, you should go practice now so you can be less disgraceful at your next performance." Tears started to fall out of Meg's eyes as she turned around and hurriedly walked out of the room.

The ex-Viscountesse stared at Madame Giry in shock. Yes, Madame Giry did give out harsh criticisms at times, but she never became that negative with Meg when she is already about to cry. What is going on?

Madame Giry turned back to the ex-Viscountesse and sighed.

"I am so sorry about Meg. After your fall from the balcony, she has been distant and angry. I can't imagine why. The two of you were like sisters when you were little."

"No need to apologize Madame. If anything, I should be the one to offer my apologies. It seems that I have kept you from Meg's performance." the ex-Viscountesse continued to speak in her business voice. Madame Giry frowned.

"You do not need to be so formal. I have known you for many years now." Madame Giry sighed. "I will need to contact the doctor to see how long this memory loss will last. You should get some more rest. I will come back later to check on you. Goodnight Christine." Madame Giry got up and closed the door after her.

The young woman sat back up after she heard the door shut. That man was not joking when he said there were going to be some changes...

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows as she thought of the new alterations in this timeline. Meg hates her and Madame Giry seems to dote on her. She sighed as she thought back to the coldness she saw in Meg's eyes. That is an issue she is going to have to deal with. She will have to come up with some sort of plan to rekindle their relationship. They may not have been related in blood, but she was basically her sister in the previous timeline. Having her hatred was a painful stab to the ex-Visountesse.

Speaking of the ex-Viscountesse, she needed to stop acting as if she was one. She is not in high Parisian society after all. She probably hasn't even met Raoul in this timeline yet.

She is now a teenaged girl. She needed to act like a teenager. No longer is she the Viscountesse de Chagny, but now she is Christine. And Christine was... Who was Christine again? The ex-Visountesse tried to recollect her blurred memories.

To start off, she was the daughter of a dead violinist. Was there anything else? The ex-Viscountesse frowned as she try to remember what she was like back then. She tried conjuring an image of young Christine when suddenly a vision popped up...

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_Hello! I am Christine! I am a ballerina at the opera house. I was sent there as an orphan when my pa-...when my papa died...Oh papa. I miss you so much!_

_But that is alright, because my papa sent me an Angel of Music! He is an angel that comes down from heaven each night just to teach me music! He speaks to me through the walls. I do not find that creepy or suspicious at all! Raoul thinks I am being taken advantage of and that my angel isn't really an angel though. Feh, I think he's just jealous.__  
_

_Oh no! It looks like my angel really wasn't an Angel of Music! This is incredibly shocking! He is also hideous and likes to murder people! __Come Raoul! We must go to the roof of where my insane tutor who is obsessed with me lives in order to discuss plans of escaping him!_

_Oh no! He heard!_

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The young woman winced as memories of terrible decisions flashed before her eyes. She decided to scratch that idea of trying to be her teenaged self again. She is not going to go back to that.

Instead, she will be Daae. She is the daughter of a dead violinist and works at the opera house as a maid. While she does miss her father terribly, she is not desperate enough to hang onto her father's promise. She will not have people making decisions for her this time around. Nor will she be pushed and forced into horrible situations. She will be mature for her age. She is no longer the Viscountesse, now she is a young independent woman who lives in the lower class. She did not live in dreams.

Daae smiled. Yes, that sounds good. If people question why she suddenly acts so differently, she can blame it on amnesia. It is not like she remembers anything from this timeline after all. With a plan in her mind, Daee drifted off to sleep.

* * *

...and done! Meg and Madame Giry has shown up! They are slightly different from their original counterparts. Don't worry, Meg is not going to become like LND Meg. She just dislikes the Christine from this new timeline before the Viscountesse stepped in. Anyway, Erik is finally going to show up in the next chapter! What will the situation be with him?


	3. Chapter 3

_The ashen sky hung above the grove. The breeze danced between the branches and frost caressed the leaves. Silence reigned. Yet, like a ripple upon water, everything became distorted._

_A young frantic woman came bursting through the grove. Her short breaths turning into puffs of steam. The leaves rustled as she passed. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, tripping over her gown as she did so._

_As she came into the clearing a vision of hell came to her eyes. A blazing inferno had devoured the mansion. She screamed and stumbled her way closer to the flames._

_"No! No, this can't be happening! He can't be dead!" Christine sobbed. "Raoul!" She collapsed on the ground with her hands covering her face. The flames continued to dance. Dark human shapes began to form out of the flickering shadows of the fire. Masks covered their faces and they laughed maliciously._

_**"That little bitch. I knew things could only go wrong when the Vicomte decided to marry her!"**_

_**"Heh, I think maybe she was the one who killed him and then said it was an "accident"."**_

_**"And don't forget, this might not be the first time the little harpy has killed a de Chagny. Remember Phillip? He died quite strangely."**_

_**"Maybe one of her lovers could have done it. She's probably a whore. The harlot was a chorus girl after all."**_

_"I-what?" Christine looked at the disgusted faces that surrounded her. "No! I didn't! I loved him more than anything! I have never betrayed him! There was only one other time where I also lov- cared for someone else and...it doesn't matter now."_

_As the shadowed forms continued to laugh at her, one of them stepped forward. His eyes were a putrid yellow. When he opened his mouth, she noticed his teeth were long and crooked._

_"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Little Christine. Is it just me? Or do you just seem to drag men down all the time? Your father died trying to take care of you and you killed little Erik through your rejection. And now, poor Raoul is dead! My, you seem to be quite a demon in the making."_

_Christine stiffened._

_"Wh-what?" Christine asked in a small voice. The shadowed man chuckled._

_"Yes, you do it all while having the face of an innocent doe. Quite marvelous, my little Christine." The man's voice deepened as he started to stalk towards her._

_The young girl tried to move away from him, but the other human shadows blocked her way. He was almost within arms reach from her when a ray of light suddenly appeared between them. A form clothed in light appeared before her. She could see its elegant white wings spread as if to block her from the shadowed man's sight._

_A hideous laugh spilled from the man's lips._

_"Ah, it looks like we unfortunately have a meddlesome intruder, dear Christine." Though his words sounded jovial, a burning anger could be heard behind each word._

_The young girl shivered. With its back still towards Christine, the bright figure answered in an imperious tone._

_"_You_ are not allowed to try and manipulate events either." The voice of the angel was melodious and yet, she could not tell if it belonged to a female or a male._

_Although Christine could not see the shadowed man, she could almost sense his wide maniacal grin._

_"Hmmm...We will see about that. Though, for now, I will leave." the man looked over the angel's wings and into Christine's eyes directly. The girl froze as an uneasy feeling crept into her stomach. "Farewell for now, my little Christine." he winked as his body dissolved into the darkness, taking the laughing shadows with him._

_The form clothed in light folded its wings and sighed._

_"Things have only begun." The young woman glanced curiously at the angel._

_"What just happened?" The angel continued to have its back towards her._

_"...nothing you should be concerned about at the moment." _

_Christine looked at the angel incredulously. Before the young woman could call out on the blatant lie, the figure spoke again. _

_"It is time that you woke up. Miss Giry is about to check on you. Goodbye."_

_"Wai-"_

Daae's eyes fluttered open. What did she just dream about? There were shadows, an-

"Christine!" Daae frowned and glanced at the door. Madame Giry hurried over to her with concern in her eyes. "I heard some screaming! Are you well?" Daae gave her a comforting smile.

"Oh, I am fine. Just had a nightmare, that is all." Madame Giry frowned.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Daae shook her head.

"No thank you, Madame Giry." The older woman sighed.

"Do you think you feel well enough to go to the Opera Populaire with Meg and I?" Madame Giry questioned. The young woman nodded. "Very well, I will come back in twenty minutes. Please be dressed and ready then." the ballet instructor stood up and left the room.

Daae sat up on her bed and tried to retrace her thoughts. What was she thinking about again? She knew she was thinking about what had happened in her nightmare, but now it seems like all recollections of her dream have vanished. She shrugged. It probably wasn't all that important if she couldn't remember it. The young woman got up to get dressed.  
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Daae observed the opera house as nostalgia washed over her. She watched as performers bustled about. The set designers ran about frantically as they worked to build the sets on time. She saw with a small pang in her heart as dancers glided about the stage like swans. Most of all, the thing she missed most was listening as musicians practiced their art. The music echoing throughout the Opera Populaire.

She sighed in contentment. Despite never having to return to the opera house after she buried... Anyway, she always felt a connection to this place. There were too many painful memories that saturated this place though. In fact, she still had that feeling of unease even as she walked around.

"Do you remember anything else?" Daae was shaken out of her reverie. She looked up at the older woman walking in front of her.

"Excuse me?" Madame Giry smiled gently.

"I know you have loss your memory. Has any of it come back yet?" The young woman shook her head. Madame Giry sighed.

"Maybe you should rest some more. I will ask the managers to allow you a couple more days off." Daae shook her head again.

"Oh, no. You do not need to do that. I feel fine. I do not mind working."

"I insisted that you at least rest for one more day."

"I really don'-" the younger woman wanted to argue, but one glance at Madame Giry's face told her that she wasn't going to budge. Instead, she went on to another subject. "You say occasionally I also do some costume work?" Madame Giry nodded.

"Yes, sometimes you help out if extra hands are needed. Right now there is no need. We have already made more than half of the costumes and we have about five months before we show off our newest production."

"Really? What is the newest production?" Daae asked as she moved out of the way of some stagehands.

"It is Hannibal. Natasha and Piangi are playing the lead roles." The young woman raised an eyebrow.

"Natasha? What of Carlotta?" At the mention of Carlotta, Madame Giry stopped. Daee almost ran into her back. The older woman stared back at her in confusion.

"Carlotta? Why on earth would she be our leading role lady? She can barely sing. The only reason why she is in the chorus is because Piangi threatened to leave if they didn't at least give her some singing role." The young woman frowned.

Seems like something else has been altered. Not that this one was too life changing. She silently wondered what this Natasha was like. Hopefully her attitude won't be worse than Carlotta's.

They reached the managers' office and Madame Giry politely knocked. The door opened and the two women were granted a view of two older gentleman trying their best to show off to a younger one.

Daae's heart stopped.

"Why yes, Vicomte de Chagny, we have the best costume designers, dancers, and singers of all Paris!" Moncharmin proclaimed. Richard quickly cut in to support his partner.

"Yes, but having your support will really make the Opera Populaire the grandest opera house in all of Europe! You will not regret this, Vicomte de Chagny." They both gave the Vicomte wide grins.

Raoul gave a small smile. From the stiff shoulders to the way it seemed like he was trying to move away from the two managers, anyone could see that he really wanted to escape.

Well, anyone besides the managers that is.

"Also Vi-" Before Moncharmin could continue on his cruel yet unusual torture, Madame Giry interrupted him with a loud tap of her cane on the floor. Raoul sighed in relief.

"Oh, look at the time. As much as I love to support the arts, I must bid you gentlemen farewell." Raoul quickly moved past the mangers and out the front door. He did not give a single glance to either Madame Giry or Daae.

The young woman felt her heart fall. Why did she think he would notice her? He did not do so last time. He only noticed her when she sang on stage...

Daae felt a jolt of realization. The chances of having a romantic relationship with him in this timeline are very slim.

He will most likely marry a high class girl this time. Though, as much as it hurted her, maybe that was for the best. What happened to her Raoul would not happen to this brave young man... He wouldn't have to face the jeers of high society.

A horrified feeling suddenly shot through her body as she came to another realization. What of their children? Charles, Phillip, Charlotte. All those memories of telling them stories at night, comforting them, watching them become adults, she will never, ever see any of her children again. She took the offer to relive her life again in hopes of doing things better this time, and yet she may have only made everything worse. And she's only been here for two days!

Tears threatened to spill out her eyes. No, she must not cry. She took the deal and now she must endure. Daae forced herself to think logically. Her children do exist. She had watched them grow up. It just happened in another universe. They are still alive. She might not be able to be with them, but they are still out there somewhere.

"-her memories have not yet returned, but I assure you that she can resume her duties tomorrow. Please tell Madame Dubois to not assign her duties that might be too tiring though." Richard and Moncharmin sighed in sync.

"Very well. Since this incident was caused by one of our crew members, we will be lenient this time." Moncharmin reluctantly said.

"Now then, you two must leave. We have better things to do now that we are not in the junk business!" Richard shooed the two woman away.

"Firmin! We were in the _scrap metal_ business, not junk!" Moncharmin staunchly reminded him. Richard sighed.

"Anyway, now shoo." He closed the door after the two woman.  
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The next day the young brunette stood in front of Madame Dubois. Madame Dubois was a very stern woman who took her job very seriously. Which is why at the very moment she was scowling at the young woman before her. She was told the other day to give this girl the "easy" tasks.

Why should she? This young woman was psychically capable of cleaning. The younger generations must not submit to laziness. That was what she believed. She looked down at the paper to see where she where she assigned each person. Christine Daae was originally tasked to help clean the dining area.

There, she changed it to cleaning and sweeping the floors of the stage and auditorium. The musicians, actors, and stagehands always somehow make huge messes at the backstage everyday. The workload was more. The serious woman gave her the duties and told her where to get her supplies. Daae quickly disappeared from her sight.

_Lazy girl..._

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Daae went to get a broom and a dust pan from the supply closet. She thought back to the old woman she just met. It seemed like Madame Dubois did not think well of her. That might become troublesome. The woman was her boss after all. She sighed. One problem at a time.

The young woman looked around the area as she began to sweep the floors of the auditorium.

As her eyes settled on the stage before her, a wave of memories washed over.

**Remember me fondly...**

_Serafino, away with this pretense!_

**When we've said goodbye...**

_She is singing to bring down the chandelier!_

_Let me be your shelter._

**We never said our love...**

_No backward glances._

_Save me from my solitude._

**Was evergreen or as unchanging as the sea.**

Daae felt suffocated by the past. The young woman took a deep breath as she clenched her broom.

None of that has happened yet.

Daae repeated the phrase in her head as a mantra. She really needed to get a grip on herself. Going around and having a panic attack every time she sees something nostalgic is not beneficial to anyone. She kneeled down to swept the pile of dust she collected into the pan.

Just as she started to stand up, someone slammed into her. The dust pan fell out of her hands, spilling filth all over the place.

The brunette quickly picked up the dust pan and looked at the human before her. It was a young woman in her early twenties. Though she was frowning, Daae could tell she was very beautiful. She had long ebony hair and skin that reminded her of freshly made snow. Her lips were as red as apples. The woman looked down at her in a regal manner. Daee realized that the dust had spilled all over both of their clothes.

The brunette quickly tried to dust off the filth from the woman's expensive clothes.

"My apologies Mademoiselle, I will clean up your dress." The dark haired woman swiftly moved out of her reach.

"No! Do not put your filthy hands on me. I demand you give me your name instead. " the lady ordered coldly. Daae frowned at her.

"I give you my apologies for spilling dust all over your clothes, but you were the one who bumped into me." the brunette replied.

The lady's face became twisted with a sneer for a moment, and then she went back to wearing the mask of a queen. Daae could tell she was struggling to keep her cold facade.

"Do you not hear me? I said give me your name. I will be reporting to the managers about you." the maid raised an eyebrow at her.

"So then, why would I tell you my name?" the young woman could tell that that the dark haired beauty was about to burst.

"What is the issue, Natasha?" Daae stood frozen at the sound of the voice.

_It couldn't be..._

Daae stared at the new person standing behind the lady. The man had jet black hair and slightly tanned skin. He wore a very formal suit with black gloves. The gentleman gazed back at her with unusual amber eyes. The thing that shocked her the most was his face.

The man had an incredibly handsome face, one that could belong to an angel's.

_He doesn't need a mask._

The young woman gasped. It looks like she has discovered another change, a very big one at that. The dark haired lady looked back at him. Her face instantly turning from thinly veiled anger to joy as she smiled warmly at the man.

"Oh, Erik!" she quickly latched onto his arm. The lady looked up at him with bright green eyes. "This horrible maid has spilled dust all over the dress you bought me!" she pointed at Daae with a pout on her face.

_How did she change so fast from being a regal queen to a five year old child?_

Erik looked down at her coldly.

"Is that all? It is simply a dress. I will buy you another later." Natasha, noticing that Erik was not in the mood for her childish shenanigans, switched modes quickly.

"But what of the maid?" Erik glanced back at Daae with utter apathy.

"She is of no significance. You should not bother yourself with her. Leave her alone." Natasha looked like she wanted to say more on the topic, but she decided to keep her mouth shut and change the subject.

"Erik, will you walk me home so I can change clothes?" Natasha gave him a seductive smile. Erik looked at her for a moment and nodded.

"Very well, we shall leave now." the couple moved past the maid and out the doors.

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Minutes later, Daae was still staring at the doors that the couple have left through. Her mind was in a mess of emotions. She couldn't breathe.

Suddenly, she heard someone slowly clap behind her. Daae turned around.

A young woman with luscious red hair and dark green eyes was clapping. An amused smile graced her face. Daae's eyes widened at the sight.

Is that...

Carlotta Guidicelli walked towards the brunette with a feline fashion. When she came right up to the maid she whistled.

"My, that was impressive. You just talked back to the Opera Populaire's reigning diva." the brunette continued to gaped. _Carlotta_ gave her a compliment!

_Now include an abusive drunk Raoul and everything would truly be bizarre._

"Ex-excuse me?" Daae stuttered when she found her voice again. The red haired woman simply grinned.

"I am quite surprised by the amount of guts you have. Looks like you're not such a mouse after all. Not very many people can mouth off to the ice bitch."

The brunette still could not comprehend anything. _Is everyone going to be different here?_ She needed to make sure.

"Um, who are you?" Daae asked in an innocent tone. Carlotta frowned.

"You do not remember me? But I am the only memorable person in this dump. I am the Carlotta Guidicelli!" She gave an exaggerated bow. "One day soon I will be your future Prima Donna." the woman smirked."Don't forget."

The young brunette raised an eyebrow at her.

"Aren't you a chorus girl?"

Carlotta shrunk back down for a moment and then puffed her chest.

"That is simply a minor setback. It is because everyone has gone tone deaf from listening to Queen Natasha that they cannot see my obvious talent!" Carlotta loudly proclaimed, earning some scoffs from the nearby passerbyes. The brunette smiled.

Although they were bitter rivals in the alternate past, Daee could not bring herself to hate her now. Given the wisdom that high society has taught her, she did not feel threatened by Carlotta at all. In fact, Daae found her rather...adorable? It was like talking a young child in some ways. She actually reminded her a lot of her daughter Charlotte when she was eight and wanted to be a princess. She smiled fondly for a moment before turning her thoughts back on the opera house.

"So, who was that man with her?" Carlotta raised an eyebrow.

"You are not in love with him are you?" Daee flinched.

"No. Of course not. I was just curious." she answered in a monotone voice. Carlotta grinned widely at her.

"I respect you a lot more then! God, that man has way too many fangirls! My Piangi is the one who does all the male lead roles for the Opera Populaire, yet everyone keeps forgetting him! It is because Erik has an evil tendency to hog all the attention."

Daae thought back to the slightly round man. He was a good singer, but he did not have much of a presence. Even in the original timeline people kept forgetting he existed.

"So, what does Erik do to get so much attention?"

Carlotta let out a angry huff.

"What did he _not_ do? Did you know he used to be a famous scientist, architect, and magician? It has been said that he single handedly advanced the medical and technological fields into new heights that might have taken many years otherwise. Each house he has created sells for millions of dollars! It had gotten to the point where people believed that he may have sold his soul to the devil to gain so much knowledge. The idiotic populace became fascinated with him."

"Really? Then why is he here?" Daae questioned.

"He retired about five years ago."

"Everyone was shocked when he declared that he was only going to do music from then on. Nobody knew why. Many thought he might have gotten too tired of having to deal with greedy corporations. Others thought he got too bored. Some of the crazier ones believe that, shortly before his retirement, he was kidnapped and forced to serve the Shah of Persia. His experiences there being the catalyst of his retirement."

Carlotta crossed her arms and gave an angry scowl.

"Now that man is a composer. He doesn't even go on stage, yet everyone pays attention to him!" Daae raised an eyebrow.

_Wow, Carlotta chooses the silliest things to be jealous over._ The young brunette stood and absorbed the information. She frowned.

"If he is the resident composer, than why does he spend so much time with Natasha? Are they married?" Carlotta laughed at her question.

"Erik Destler? Married? Ha, that is a nice joke. He is like Phillip de Chagny, except with singers instead of ballerinas. Natasha is the fifteenth woman he has been with in the five years he has been here." Carlotta glared at the doors that the couple exited from earlier. "Those two assholes belong to each other." Daae gave her a quizzical stare.

_Wow, she really hates him. _

Then again, as the brunette thought back to her timeline, Erik and Carlotta always had an animosity towards each other. Even more than _she_ and Carlotta had with each other. Guess some feelings never change. Carlotta looked back at her and grinned.

"Well, now that I have given you some information, why don't we become friends?" The fiery haired woman held out her hand. The young woman stared at it in shock. _Carlotta wants to be my friend? _Daae thought for a moment and hesitantly shook her hand.

The Spanish woman smiled and clapped her hands together.

"Perfect! I can tell we will have a lot of fun! I've been wanting to talk to someone who isn't obsessed with Erik or Natasha! Those two piss me off!" Daae winced.

_I think I may have just agreed to be Carlotta's go-to complaining partner._

_I hope this doesn't end badly for me._

* * *

...and finish! There! I have pretty much introduced all the characters who have undergone significant changes! The rest will probably be more or less the same as their original counterparts. There are actually reasons for these changes in this new timeline. They will be revealed. Anyway, this fanfic is an E/C pairing. Their relationship isn't the greatest right now since they don't actually have one. They will eventually develop one though! Anyway, here are some previews of the next chapter!

_Christine: Meg! You're injured! I know you hate me, but please let me help you!_

_Meg:...I have not always hated you, Christine. In fact, I once thought you were the sweetest person around. But you proved me wrong a long time ago. What are you plotting Christine? Why would you want to help me?_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Christine: Why have you done this!? What was the point in all of this?!_

_?: I had no choice. There is a human here that I care about very much, but their soul was damned the moment it was created. I had hoped that by altering the events, changing the circumstances, and twisting some of the relationships, maybe this human might have a fighting chance this time._

_Christine: Who is this person?_


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: Hey, just a little warning, I might edited earlier chapters occasionally to make them better. The story and how events have unfolded will not change. I am simply fixing some grammatical errors and might decide to try and word things better.

* * *

_The dark winged man seethed in pain as he tried to get past the barrier. Anger coursed through his veins._

_"Do not think for a moment, my friend, that I will sit back and do nothing!"_

_He clenched his teeth as he thought back of when the angel left with Miss Daae and sealed him in this bubble for his own "protection"._

_He hit the wall again with a much stronger force as he thought of his friend's betrayal._

_"Damn it!"_

_His anger ebbed as he saw a crack appear in the barrier._

_A fiendish grin spread across his features._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Carlotta smiled as she watched her lover sing his solo. Although Piangi wasn't exactly skinny or muscular, she still thought he looked rather dashing in his armor.

She frowned as she heard the other dithering chorus girls whisper and giggle about the handsome yet reclusive Erik Destler and, as a new addition to their already mindless babble, the boyish Vicomte.

Carlotta, being the domineering person that she is, made them silent with just a glare. Natasha might be the Queen Bee here, but Carlotta can still be a very terrifying human to deal with.

Unfortunately, the moment the choir became quiet was also the moment that the ballet corps decided to let out loud shrieks.

The red haired woman glanced over to where the gaggle of ballerinas stood. Meg Giry was standing in the middle of the group, weaving a tale of horror that involved...carrots? Well, whatever.

Meg Giry, isn't she the one who lives with Christine?

As Carlotta's mind drifted to the quiet maid, she recalled the event in which they became friends. Before that, she never really paid that much attention to the mouse. It was startlingly to see how the loss of one's memories can really change someone's personality.

Before the whole sandbag incident, Christine Daae was a ghost that drifted about the theater. Always looking like a kicked puppy. She frequently cried about her father and something about an angel. The brunette was rather pathetic in Carlotta's opinion. People either pitied her, or ignored her like she did herself. Nobody actually wanted to be her friend. Too much emotional baggage.

The event about a week and a half ago changed her mind however. She never actually thought the girl would have such sass to talk back to Ice Queen. Hell, even she didn't.

While she does make snarky comments about her, she wouldn't do it to her face. Carlotta would have gotten kicked out of the chorus faster than she could finish the remark if she did so. Piangi would not be able to do anything about it. Having the managers tied around her finger and Erik as her lover, Natasha could do anything she wanted. And it doesn't help that Destler himself already wanted Carlotta out of the chorus.

Which was why she decided to make Christine her friend the moment she saw her stand up against Natasha. Finally, she has another supporter besides Piangi! Yes, one day this opera house will be hers. Until then, she will need to keep collecting more people to her cause...

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when another round of shrieks came from the ballerinas. She frowned.

God, she could understand why Christine had hated her. Although Christine had been strangely quiet about Meg after the sandbag accident, she could tell that those two really had an animosity towards each other. She had overhead them bicker before.

Carlotta happened to walk by one day as Meg and Daae argued with each other. The ballerina had been accusing Christine of being a manipulative bitch or something of the like. The mouse? Being manipulative? Hah, that is as much of joke as Carlotta being in in love with Natasha.

Giry was probably just jealous that Christine has so much of her mother's attention. Daae herself pointed that out and told the ballerina to get over it. Meg turned red and looked like she wanted to kill her, but she simply walked away.

Well then, since Daae is her supporter now, maybe Carlotta should help her with Meg. The ballet rat was starting to piss her off as well.

A plan started to formulate in the red haired woman's mind...

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Daae groaned as her efforts to destroy a pesky stain on the ground proved unfruitful. She closed her eyes and sighed.

This was just fantastic. Now she was even failing to clean a stain. The brunette felt a headache coming on as she thought of all of the changes that have occurred. There are many issues she needed to deal with.

She thought back to the more recent alterations. Being Carlotta's friend was actually not as bad as she thought. Yes, the woman from Spain did complain to her a lot, but she could be very interesting to talk to as well. Carlotta knew a lot about the Opera Populaire and had a wry sense of humor.

Carlotta was also one of the only humans who talked to her besides Madame Giry. Daae frowned. It seems like whoever Christine was before, she was most definitely not popular. That made the brunette appreciate Guidicelli all the more.

As she switched from thoughts of her newest friend to the event that led up to it, she sighed.

She was still very confused about Erik. The maid wasn't sure if she should do something. After everything that has happened in her timeline, she felt that the man deserved a break. If that break means having many lovers and being cold to people, then maybe she should let it be. She felt her heart clench as she thought of the final moments she spent with her tutor.

_No, no. Do not think about it._

The woman took a deep breath. Yes, she will not do anything. In fact, perhaps she should just avoid him. Unfortunately, her cleaning area is the stage and auditorium. Areas that Erik frequently visits.

Hmmm...Well, she could make herself unseen if he comes by. She was a maid after all, it wasn't like anyone would notice if she disappeared for a bit.

As Daae thought more about it, she realized that maybe she didn't have as many problems as she thought. All she needed to do was not do anything. She will not interfere with either Raoul's or Erik's lives. That should be fairly simple. Having Carlotta as a friend wasn't an issue. The only true problem she had was Meg.

She needed to fix her relationship with her. From what she has seen of Meg's reactions towards her, the brunette concluded that Meg mostly thought of Christine as a self-centered brat who somehow managed to obtain the majority of Madame Giry's attention. That should not be too hard to fix.

The maid could try and repair the relationship between Madame Giry and her daughter. If they spent more time together, maybe the ballerina would not be so resentful towards her.

Daae herself could find ways to spend more time with her as well. If she showed Meg that she wasn't a selfish person, maybe their relationship would also get better.

The brunette smiled as a plan formulated in her mind...

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Meg woke up with a sneeze.

_Damn, I hope I am not getting sick. I've been sneezing a lot lately..._

She groggily got up from her shabby bed and gazed out the window. It was getting late in the morning.

The ballerina looked around for her shoes. Although her room was very small she still had a hard time finding her slippers. Meg was not an organized person.

As her eyes swept across the cracked floor of her room, she noticed her hand mirror lying on the ground. She picked it up and placed it on the box next to her bed that also served as a table.

She looked under her bed and found her shoes. The ballerina quickly put them on and went to her closet to change her clothes. As she neared her closet she looked at the wallpaper that covered her room and grimaced. Parts of the grey paper were coming off.

She sighed as she reached into her closet and changed her clothes. She took her ballerina gear with her. As she stepped into the hallway she looked across and saw Christine's door opened. She could see the insides of her nice big room. Envy clutched at her heart as she recalled how she once slept there.

_"Mother, could you please explain to me why I have to move into the storage room?" a fifteen year-old Meg questioned. Her mother gave her a cold glare._

_"I have already told you why! Christine is weak and she needs a better room to sleep in." Madame Giry replied._

_"But the storage room is cold and dirty. I do not want to sleep in there. I want my room back!"_

_"Meg Giry! I never recalled raising such a selfish child! The storage room has been cleaned and is suitable for sleeping in. You are a strong child, and Christine is still in a lot of pain."_

_At the mention of the accident Meg became still. A storm of emotions swirled in her heart._

_"Mother, about that accident, Christine she-" Meg started._

_"No, I do not want to hear your self indulgent lies." Madame Giry interrupted and looked at the clock. "Come now daughter, we have to get to the opera house at five." the ballet instructor walked away._

_Little Meg stared after her with the words of the truth caught in her throat. She looked down and then obediently followed after her mother._

Meg shook her head as if to free herself from the memories. No use in thinking about the past now. She quickly headed out and walked to the Opera Populaire.

Her head still felt a little fuzzy as she headed out of the dressing rooms. Several of the ballerinas and stagehands greeted her as she passed.

"Hello Meg! Nice to see you!"

"Hey Meg, let's go to that restaurant after practice today!"

"Hi Meg, how are you?"

Meg smiled warmly and greeted each one with enthusiasm. She loved to talked and she was generally a people pleaser. Telling stories was one her favorite hobbies. If being a ballerina did not work out in the future, she might consider a career as a gothic novelist.

As practice commenced, Meg made more mistakes more than usual. Madame Giry was not pleased and the constant pounding of her cane could be heard throughout the opera house. When break finally came, the blonde ballerina was ready to pass out.

She was lying down on a bench when a knock came at the door.

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Daae decided that, to knock out two birds with one stone, she would get all three of them to spend time together. Meg would be less likely to be hostile to her if her mother was also there. As the ballet corps took a break, the maid floated by and found the room that Meg was resting in.

In Daae's original time, her Meg had a fondness for carnivals. She loved the strangeness of it all. If she hadn't married the Baron, she might have become a gothic novelist.

As a result, the brunette was currently keeping three tickets to a nearby carnival in her pocket.

_I know she will love it!_

She already gave one to Madame Giry. The old woman simply smiled and told her of how when she was her age she also went to a traveling circus. She had a fun time and nothing terrible happened. Although, there was a mean Gypsy man that bothered her.

Daae froze as she recounted a similar story that her dear friend told her.

_My mother met Erik when she was in her late teens. They met at a traveling circus. It says in her diary that Erik was there as an attraction. He was the Devil's Child and a Gypsy man had been abusing him._

Daae shuddered. She did not really think all that much when she bought the tickets. Though, this was a more established carnival. They wouldn't hold people there against their wills.

After she knocked and waited for about five minutes, she decided to just go in. She opened the door and saw Meg lying on a bench, glaring at her.

"What the hell do you want?" Meg spoke with evident dislike in her voice.

Although Daae had been planning this, the coldness in Giry's eyes made her uneasy. She decided to talk about a different subject first.

"Um, hello. I saw you practicing earlier and-"

"Did you come here to mock me?"

Daae frowned. Why did this ballerina keep thinking the worst of her?

"No! Of course not! I just wanted to tell you that I thought Madame Giry's comments were too harsh."

"Shut up, Christine. I know you are here for something!" Meg tried to stand up, but her legs gave out under her and she fell to the floor. Daae's eyes widened and she hurried over to her.

"Meg!"

The ballerina groaned and her eyes were shut tight. The brunette put her hand on the blonde's forehead.

She was burning up.

The maid gasped and quickly ran out the room. After several minutes, she came back with a bundle of ice wrapped in a rag and a cold cup of water. The young woman quickly placed the rag on the ballerina's head.

Meg's eyes fluttered opened just as Daae tried to give her the glass of water. She suddenly pushed the glass away with a strong force, causing the cup to fly out of the maid's hands and onto the ground. Meg yelped in pain as she felt the glass shards dig against her thin tights.

The brunette looked in fear.

"I'm sorry! Let me go-"

"Stop it with the nice act!" Meg growled at Daae with an unbridled amount of fury and suspicion. Daae furrowed her eyebrows.

"Meg! You're injured! I know you have always hated me, but please let me help you!" she desperately pleaded.

The injured woman hesitated. Confusion swirled in her mind as she thought about how differently Christine was acting towards her.

"...I have not always hated you, Christine. I once thought you were the sweetest person around. But you proved me wrong a long time ago...What are you plotting Christine? Why would you want to help me?"

Without thinking, Daae immediately replied.

"I'm not trying to use you. I only want you to be happy, Meg. Because you are my best fri-"

The door slammed open, abruptly cutting off Daae's sentence.

"Meg Giry! Practice started ten minutes ago an-" Madame Giry paused as she absorbed the scene in front of her. There were glass shards everywhere and Christine looked like she was about to cry as her daughter gazed at the brunette in contempt. Did Meg try to hurt Christine?

"Christine! Are you alright!?" Madame Giry asked in a panic.

The maid looked at the ballet instructor in befuddlement.

_What? I am fine! Did she just not see Meg?_

"I am fine, Madame. It should be Meg that you should be worried about. Meg is injured and has a strong fever."

For the first time since she entered the room, she saw that some of the shards had cut into the ballerina's legs. The cuts did not appear to be severe, but needed treatment quickly.

The ballet instructor walked over to her daughter and dragged her away from the glass while she berated her.

"You clumsy girl! You are a dancer. You should be more careful about your legs!"

Daae followed them out as Madame Giry headed to her office to get a medical kit.

_This Madame Giry tends to yell at her daughter a lot more..._

"Madame, please stop berating her. I am the one res-"

The ballet instructor interrupted her again as she set Meg down on a chair.

"Oh, I am so sorry Christine. You could have gotten hurt too! Are you sure you are alright?"

"I am fine, bu-"

Madame Giry pulled the kit out and brought out a bottle to clean the wounds.

"I am going to apply this to her wounds. It might sting a bit. Christine, dear, could you hold Meg's hand?"

Daae nodded and held her hand. The ballerina looked like she was fighting back her tears. The brunette felt a stab at her heart.

Madame Giry used an alcohol swab to clean her cuts and then bandaged them. She sighed.

"The cuts are not too deep and you should be able to keep dancing, but you should stop for at least two weeks." Meg's eyes widened.

"What? No I can't! The-"

"You should have thought about that before you decided not to take care of yourself!" Madame Giry moved Meg back out of her office. She turned to Daae.

"Madame, you should not-" the maid once again spoke and was silenced by the queen of interruptions.

"Christine, my apologies for bothering you like this, but could you go take Meg back home? I would go, but I have a class that I must attend. If I leave them alone for too long, they will stop practicing."

Daae sighed and agreed. The brunette offered her hand to Meg and the ballerina hesitantly accepted it. The ballet instructor turned and walked away.

When they got back to their home, the maid helped lay the ballerina down on the bed. She looked around the cold and musty room.

It was no wonder she got sick.

The room was very shabby. Daae wondered why Meg was sleeping here. Her own room had plenty of space and was a lot nicer. She would have to ask Madame Giry about that later.

"Do you want anything else? I can bring give you some of the blankets from my room." Daae looked down at Meg. She looked away.

"No, Christine. I dislike it when people give me charity. You have done enough for today. I just want to be left alone."

A lump formed in the maid's throat and she stood very still. Only when the ballerina drifted to sleep did she walk away.

The tickets continued to burn in her pocket.

Daae never felt more alone in her entire existence. As she continued to sweep the floors, she felt a hollowness in her heart spread.

All the relationships that had supported her in her previous life never existed here.

Although she now has a friend in Carlotta, she knew that it wasn't enough.

Carlotta could never fill up the gaping hole in her chest that was created from the loss of her loved ones.

She missed Meg's excited chatter as she weaved dark, yet romantic tales out of her mind. She felt a horrible pang when she thought of the way Raoul used to call her Little Lotte and told her how he would always be her knight.

And, although many terrible things had happened between them, she still missed how Erik used to play music for her into the night.

_Now, I am truly alone and there is nothing I can do about it._

Meg hated her and she had no business being a part of Raoul's or Erik's life. She was simply a maid who will probably work at the same dead end job for the rest of her life.

Horror gripped at her heart as she thought of the numerous years ahead of her living in this bleak and empty existence.

Daae could feel herself go into the darkness again. The abyss of depression threatened to consume her. It was like the time when her father died or that period after Raoul's death.

_No. No! I can't fall in to that state again. Whenever I do, people start to take advantage of me and everyone gets hurt!_

Thinking of the only thing left she had control over, she abandoned her broom and vanished from the stage.

She fled in to one of the more hidden practice rooms of the Opera Populaire. The maid stepped into the small room and shut the door behind her. There were several lanterns and a small mirror that hung from the wall. A worn out piano stood in the corner of the room. She felt a little bit of the darkness lift from her.

Yes, at least she had music. It was one of the few things she still had control over.

After her father's death, Erik used music to give her life again. After she lost Raoul, her musical skills were the ones that kept her sane while she wore her Viscountesse mask.

She sat at the up-right piano and started to play a melody that she sang for her children once.

_O fare you well, I must be gone  
And leave you for a while:  
But wherever I go, I will return,  
If I go ten thousand mile, my dear,  
If I go ten thousand mile._

_Ten thousand miles it is so far  
To leave me here alone,  
Whilst I may lie, lament and cry,  
And you will not hear my moan, my dear,  
And you will not hear my moan._

_The crow that is so black, my dear,  
Shall change his colour white;  
And if ever I prove false to thee,  
The day shall turn to night, my dear,  
The day shall turn to night..._

She winced as she stopped halfway through the song. Her voice sounded off. While Visountesse did practice her voice a lot even in her late age, evidently this Christine never sang a note after her father's death.

Her range was a lot smaller and the sound was more muddled. She still sang very well for a woman who did not sing for eight years, but to a professional it might as well be garbage.

_Damn it! I don't even have control over music anymore..._

The darkness came back stronger this time. Daae could feel herself almost choke in it. As the waves of despair washed over her, a sudden hissing sound could be heard.

She frowned and glanced around the room.

Crack!

She jumped at the thunderous noise. The lights in the room flickered out. The brunette tensed and frantically tried to get the door open. It was locked.

_Oh God!_

"Do not panic, Miss Daae. You are in no danger."

She heard the voice echo around the room and frowned. That voice sounded like the stranger she made the deal with...

"Where are you?" she asked in a confident voice, yet felt quite the opposite.

"Look at your mirror. I am there inside."

She turned and looked at the small mirror that hung on the wall. A man with dark wings reflected back.

"God! Could you be any more unoriginal!?" Daae exclaimed.

The man cocked an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

She sighed.

"Forget it. Just as long as you don't start angrily singing at me and somehow open that mirror, we are fine."

"Miss Daae, I do not underst-"

"Never mind!"

The man gave her an odd look and continued.

"Hello Miss Daae, I know it has been some time that we have talked."

"You would be correct in that assumption, monsieur." the brunette shifted uncomfortably. "Um, is there anyway that we could talk other than through this mirror? This is reminding me too much of...my music tutor."

The man furrowed his eyebrows.

"Really? How? I know Erik was a strange man, but..."

The former singer gaped at him in shock.

"You know about Erik?"

The man cleared his throat.

"Well, yes, But that is neither here nor there. Anyway, my apologies Miss Daae. This is unfortunately the only way I can talk to you for now. An ex-friend of mine had seen to that."

"Who is your-"

"It is a long story that I do not wish to discuss. Now, let us go to the main question, Miss Daae." he gave a gentle smile. "You have been here for about two weeks now. How has it been?"

"I am currently having a mental breakdown. Or was, right now I am too shocked and confused to be depressed."

"Already? How did that happen?"

Daae raised an eyebrow.

"Everyone I once cared about either doesn't exist, hates me, or is oblivious to my existence."

The man nodded and then looked down as if he was reading something.

"Well, from the information here, Madame Giry does not hate you."

The brunette sighed.

"I do care for Madame Giry, but she is not important to me as Meg, Raoul, or Erik was. Yes, she took me in when my father died, but she was always distant. She only spoke to me when talking about my "angel" or ballet. Looking back now, that may have been because of Erik."

"Fair enough. What have you done so far then?"

"I've been trying to rekindle my relationship with Meg, but that has been failing. Raoul has not notice me and I have decided to avoid Erik."

The man paused for a moment.

"Have you done anything with young Raoul?"

The woman shook her head and sighed.

"I do not really have any business being in his life either. It was because of me that he became ostracized from high society. Also, if we had not moved from Paris, he would not have died in such a way..."

The man nodded and seemed energetic all of the sudden.

"Yes, in order to prevent him from such a fate, I believe avoiding him would be a necessity. However, what of Erik? Why do you feel a need to avoid him as well?"

She clenched her hands.

"...Because I killed him. He died because of my rejection. I really did care for him and there have been times that I wished I could be with him, but living in the darkness for the rest of my life would have killed me. We were both unstable. He was insane and I was a grown woman with a mind of a child. Our relationship would not have worked."

An expression Daae could not identify flickered across the man's face.

"But what about now?" he asked softly. "You are no longer a child in a woman's body and Erik is not insane. Why do you wish to avoid him?"

"He is content now, I believe. He is dating a beautiful soprano and is loved by society. I do not have much of a reason to interfere with that."

"Miss Daae, you were a Visountesse who overcame the jeers of high society and became somebody that no one could look down to. I know I made comments about how nobody called you by your name anymore, but that was because you perfected the mask. Most people in Parisian society would call that a success. Were you happy?"

Daae stiffened.

"I loved my children very much and it was a joy to see-"

"I did not ask you if you loved your children, Miss Daae. I know they came about because of your choice, but could you tell me you were truly happy? In the end, only one of your children cared about you. Charles was the only one to visit you on a daily basis. Charlotte never once came back from America and Phillip was too busy being a clone of his namesake to visit you. In order to survive Parisian society, you ended up living the rest of your life in a shell. You could speak politely, act like an elite, never showing sadness or pain unless it is useful, but you could never be happy."

"You have no righ-"

The man continued on without a pause.

"But, you are no longer living in a mask, Miss Daae. Before, you would have simply ignored your pain and sadness. Yet, here you are, admitting to them. The Viscountesse would have always think before she talked, but earlier you were going to admit to Miss Giry that you consider her as a best friend, even though she most likely would have yelled at you and thought that you were crazy. Things have changed, Miss Daee. Now tell me, were you truly happy?"

The brunette broke down and sighed.

"No, I was not."

"Then, why did you automatically assumed that Erik was?"

'I suppose I should not have. Fine, I will check if he is truly content, but that does not automatically mean I plan on entering his life. If he is unhappy, I can see what I can do without getting directly involved with him."

"I suppose that will do for now...but I still sense negative emotions within you. What is the matter, Miss Daae?" the man asked in a kind voice.

"I do not know what to do, monsieur. I fear that I will continue in this bleak existence for the rest of my time here."

"What of your music?" he questioned.

"I am a very terrible singer now. My talent on the piano is only average."

"But you were once good. You can be again. Now that you have a second chance, don't you want to fulfill your ultimate dream? To sing on the stage again?"

"Again, you sound far too much like Erik."

The man did not seem perplexed by the comment.

"I understand that originally you did not do so when you had the chance because of Erik's methods. Now, you are the one in control. How your career will go will be of your own desire, not his. So, why not give it a chance this time? As you have said before, your life would be very bleak otherwise."

As Daae continue to listen to the man, the more she became interested in the idea. Yes! She could recover her skills again. She still had all of her memories of the lessons with Erik. She wouldn't need to find a way to scrounge up the money for a tutor. This was perfect! Then she thought of something else.

"Actually, you are correct. Why shouldn't I try to have a professional singing career this time? I don't have anything better to do. But, I think maybe I should audition at another opera house then."

The man jerked.

"What! Why?"

"Natasha has a lot of power over Opera Populaire, and after her attempt to fire me, I do not think she would be very amiable. Also, everyone here knows me as the maid. They wouldn't give me a chance of day. Even when I was a ballerina the managers were reluctant to give me an audition."

The man hesitated for a moment as the gears of his mind worked overtime. Miss Daae had very sound reasons.

"Right now your voice is not good enough, so auditioning at another place would be a terrible idea. Perhaps you should give it about three to four years and scrounge up enough money to live by yourself."

The young woman narrowed her eyes.

"Well, I wasn't planning to leave anytime soon, monsieur. I know I don't have the skills or the money to support myself right now. But, why did it seem like you were very nervous about my moving?"

"Be-because I-"

Daae gave the man an earth shattering stare. He swallowed and sighed.

"I may have had certain hidden motives when I offered you the chance."

The woman froze.

"Please don't tell me that you are actually the devil."

His dark eyes burned with fury.

"No! I am not a demon! Stop asking me that!"

"Well then, what are these hidden motives? Why have you brought me here?"

"...I had no choice. There is a human here that I care for very much, but their soul was damned the moment it was created. I had hoped that by altering the events, changing the circumstances, and twisting some of the relationships, maybe this human might have a fighting chance this time."

The brunette frowned.

"Who is this person?"

"It is someone you do not know very well, but have an important impact on."

"...And this person needs me to be here?"

"Yes."

Daae sighed.

"You're not going to tell me who he or she is, are you?"

"No."

"Fine, I will let you off today. But I do plan on leaving this place in two years."

He took a deep breath.

"Very well. Hopefully that will be enough."

* * *

...and that's it! Oh, if you hadn't noticed yet, I incorporated some aspects of LND Madame Giry into this one. The LND one was willing to sacrifice her daughter for Erik. In this one, she is doing it for Christine. That song Christine sang is an old folk song. Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

_"...slept with who?!"_

_"Really? Why would she..."_

_"What a whore..."_

Daae sighed as she heard the whispers follow her through the hall. She quietly slipped away into the shadows and walked in to the hidden practice room. The brunette sat down on the piano bench and closed her eyes.

It has been four months since she had decided to try for her career. She had been going to this practice room everyday, trying to become better. While her voice is not as good as it was, her range was steadily improving.

As she glanced at the small hanging mirror, she thought back to her plan. Besides the practical applications of it, there were deeper underlying reasons why she wanted to leave Opera Populaire.

It was hard to see them every day. The people she once cared so much about, going about their lives and not being able to interact with them. Knowing that they couldn't care less if she disappeared.

There was nothing for her here. The only things here for her were memories of another lifetime. The past she should leave behind...

She thought back to Raoul, to Meg, and to Erik. Whenever she watched Erik with Natasha her stomach felt queasy.

Daae shook her head at the last thought.

No, it wasn't like she wanted a relationship with him! Perhaps a friendship at most. But after her rejection of him in her timeline, she had no right to say anything. She did love her former teacher and wished him the best but...She was married to Raoul! ...Which technically never happened here. But she really did hated those romantic novels in which the female lead could easily switch to her lover's rival right after his death. It made men sound disposable, and Erik was not. He deserved to be with a great woman, but Natasha wasn't one.

She sighed as she remembered her attempts to gather more information on him...

* * *

_Four months ago_

Daae could feel her head bursting. While she did promise the monsieur that she will check whether or not Erik was happy, to actually do so was an entirely different thing.

She tried asking Carlotta for more information, but the ex-diva only told her stories of how much of an asshole he was.

_He told you that you sang like a toad? And that Piangi should lose some weight? Really..._

The maid could only smile and nod her head. Although she was now friends with the Spanish woman, the brunette still could not force herself to like her singing. And that only made Daae feel worse since she could tell that Carlotta was trying her best.

She sighed. It looks like the only way she can get information is from the gossiping chorus girls. They tend to fawn over Erik a lot. It probably didn't help that the man was known for only dating women who had musical talents. At least it was comforting to see that he still loved music as much as ever.

Today she will mingle with the singers when they break for lunch and hopefully not get in to contact with the ice queen.

So far she has only seen Natasha on the stage, but she could tell that the soprano did not like her very much. Daae herself felt a little jealous of her. Sure, the woman had somewhat of a diva attitude and was fairly shallow, but her voice was very beautiful. Unlike the original Prima Donna, this woman really did deserve the title. That was a big jab to her self esteem because she was still struggling to just be able to hit the notes.

The brunette shook herself out of her depressing thoughts. Right now is not the time to mope around. She needed to find more information about Erik. She glanced around the dining hall and saw five chorus girls eating near the entrance . She sat down at a nearby table and brought out her lunch.

"It is so unfair! Why does Natasha get to have the talent, the looks, and the man?"

"Well, maybe her life isn't _that _great. After all, she has to sing a love duet with Piangi."

"Gah! I wonder how anyone could find that man attractive?!"

"Carlotta does."

"That's because Piangi keeps her in the chorus!"

"Stupid managers. They shouldn't have listened to him."

Daae frowned. Great, they were talking about everyone _but _Erik. How was she going to get them to go into the subject? A plan formed in her mind as she approached their table.

"H-hello." The maid put on a meek facade as she spoke to the girls. They looked up at her.

"Are you here to clean our table?"

Daae shook her head.

"No. I just wanted to come over and say that the rehearsal was wonderful. Your voices are beautiful and I wish I could sing like you."

The girls seemed to bask in the compliments. A blonde hair girl spoke up.

"Why thank you, darling. It takes a lot of work to be in the chorus." The brunette smiled charmingly.

_"_I imagine it does! You must be truly amazing. I really loved that piece that goes like-" Daae whistled the melody for the group.

The girls contemplated for a moment and the same blonde girl from before answered.

"Ah! I know which one you are is my favorite piece as well. It was written by Monsieur Destler."

The maid put on an expression of confusion.

"Pardon me, Mademoiselle, but who is he? That name sounds familiar..."

The girls at the table gasped at the brunette in shock.

"You don't know of him?!" a dark haired girl who sat next to the blonde exclaimed.

The brunette gave a flustered appearance.

"N-no. Is he someone important?"

The chorus girls looked at each other and decided to help this poor young woman find out what she has been missing.

"He is only the most handsome man in the Opera Populaire." chirped the dark haired woman.

"Maybe, I think the Vicomte de Chagny gives him a run for his money," twittered the blonde girl.

"Anyway, he is the resident composer. He has been working here for five years." said the woman with brown eyes. She glared at the other two, but they ignored her.

"Unfortunately, Natasha has him for the moment. They have been dating for almost an year now. It is the longest relationship he has ever been in." sighed the dark haired singer.

"Wait, it is the second longest. The longest one would be with Luciana. He was her fiancé you know."

Daae raised an eyebrow.

"Really? What happened to that?" the young maid queried.

"Eh, nobody really knows. He just ended up not marrying her. It was a big mess back then."

"I'm not sure what is going on with that woman now, but I do know that Monsieur Destler doesn't like people mentioning her. He still keeps in touch with her father though. I think his name is Giovanni. They have a close relationship."

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to sort through the information.

"Does he have any friends or family?" she questioned.

The chorus girls glanced at each other in contemplation.

"He has a mother. Her name is Madeline. I think Monsieur Destler has a good relationship with her. She never comes to the Opera Populaire, but I know that he gives her quite a bit of money each month. He doesn't have a father. He died before Monsieur Erik was born."

"As for friends, besides Giovanni, I do not think he has any," said the red haired chorus girl.

"Really?" asked the blonde one. "Weren't there a lot of rumors several years back of him being friends with a Persian man?"

"The rumors were there because they thought Monsieur Erik and the man were working together in some illegal activities. The reporters never managed to even find a trace of this Persian."

The maid inwardly sighed. From what they have said, Erik is a man who didn't get close to many people. Maybe he wanted his life that way. Not everyone wanted to be around people. At least he has two friends, if the Persian is the one she was thinking of. After a few minutes, she decided to ask her last question.

"I think I remember hearing about a famous composer who had many problems and that his life was fairly tragic, Monsieur Destler isn't that man is he?"

The chorus girls frowned.

"No, I don't think his life has been terrible. He did disappear from Paris society a while back, but he returned fine. The only downs of his life I can think of is his father, the rumors of his crimes, and that the media keeps hounding him. For those to be the only issues, I'd say his life is very good."

Another girl piped up.

"I still don't understand why so many people have different theories about his increased focus on music. The man obviously loves to compose. He seems to be really happy."

At that last statement, Daae had her answer. Still, something felt off about his history. But if he is content then she had no right to intrude in on his business any further.

As the maid looked up from the chorus girls she noticed a beautiful woman standing there. Daae cringed. It was Natasha. Her arms were folded and she gave the brunette a contemptuous glare.

"Hello, maid. Not a very grateful creature, are you? I choose not to have the managers fire you, and here you are asking about my paramour." the dark beauty walked around the table and towards Daae. The chorus girls flinched when they realized that she was standing behind them.

Natasha smirked and continued.

"Trying to steal him away? I will admit that, for a commoner, you are quite pretty. But to us elite, you are trash. And unfortunately for you, Erik does not date woman who can't even read the sheet music." the woman coldly stated.

The maid gave her a bored look. She was the Viscountesse after all. Daae was used to people trying to take her down.

"Really Madame? Which one of us is the commoner again? Here you are standing like a fool for about ten minutes to listen in on the inane conversations of us lower class. You call _yourself _an elite?"

Daae chuckled.

"And a very insecure one at that. Tell me, Madame, what made you automatically assume that I was after him? Could it be when we were talking about how he may have been involved in criminal activities? Or perhaps was it when we mentioned how he had only a few friends? Yes, those are certainly the kinds of information that a woman after your lover would want! Forget obtaining knowledge of what his likes and his dislikes are."

Natasha widened her eyes and tried to think of a retort.

"I am not the one who is in the wrong here! You low class filth was asking about something that was none of your business!"

"So? I am a maid after all. What did you expect? _You're _the one who is supposed to be the elite. Which, by the way, you are failing at. Perhaps you do have a legitimate reason for being paranoid after all."

The beauty stood there gaping like a fish for several minutes.

"Yo-YOU ARE FIRED!" the ice queen screamed. Which wasn't a very good idea since it made the entire dining hall focus their attention on them.

Daae simply clicked her tongue.

"Ah, you are going to fire me then? Tsk, what a pathetic way to negate your defeat. Not to mention a very poor way of covering it up. You might as well put up a poster saying that you lost. Well whatever, at least everyone will know me as the maid who could take down the great Natasha."

Silence reigned in the hall.

Natasha stuttered.

"F-fine! You are NOT fired. But hear me this, Christine Daae, I will make you _wish _that you have never met me!"

The brunette cocked an eyebrow.

"Madame, I already do. Also, you are still not acting very elite. Trying to take revenge on a lowly maid? How sad."

"Silence, you cow! I will not take any more of your disgusting words!" Natasha quickly left the dining hall in a huff.

As Daae turned back to the chorus girls she noticed that everyone was still staring at her. She simply shrugged.

"Thank you ladies for your conversation. My lunch break is over, so I must be going now. Farewell."

The maid closed the door after her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thinking back on it now, she probably should not have done that. Natasha has made due on her threats and these last couple of months have not been easy on her. The ice queen had decided to stain her reputation. Now rumors of the numerous men that she supposedly slept with circulated around the Opera Populaire.

Daae groaned as she thought of the increase mess in her cleaning areas as a result. It really was a good thing that she had no plans of staying here for more than two years. Maybe she will change it to one year. At this rate, she couldn't see how she could have an impact on anyone's lives. Much less the life of this mysterious person the dark winged man cared so much for.

She sighed as she thought of the one person that she most definitely failed to have an impact on, at least in the positive sense. If Meg didn't hate her before, she does now.

Four days after she talked to the man in the mirror, Daae gave the tickets to Madame Giry and had her take Meg to the carnival. She herself did not go. After injuring Meg's leg, she figured that Meg would not like it if she was around.

Meg's leg healed after two weeks and she went back to practice. The ballerina managed to catch up to everyone else, but then something happened.

It happened on the day that Raoul became formerly introduced to Opera Populaire. He and the managers were walking around as the slave girl dancers were practicing. The two managers were ogling them, but Raoul blushed and looked away. Her former husband was nothing like his brother.

Suddenly, one of the dancers started to move strangely. It was as if her arms and legs were no longer in her command. She wobbled about and messed up several other dancers. The managers were furious and apologized profusely to the Vicomte. The girl was immediately struck from the production. That girl was Meg.

It was later found out that someone had put something into the cup she had been drinking out of. Meg became furious and wanted to find out who had done it. Although sabotaging to that extent had never been Daae's thing even before the Viscountesse stepped in, the ballerina confronted her about it. Madame Giry stepped in and stood up for Daae. She revealed that the one who bought those tickets was Daae. That was apparently enough evidence to accuse Daae of the act. Her line of reasoning was that the maid was planning to sabotage her early on and decided to act especially nice so no one would suspect her.

The brunette frowned at that did Meg think she was smart enough to plan all of that!? If her memories of how she used to be as a teenager was correct, Christine was very naive and couldn't keep a secret to save her life. Even if she never had her Angel of Music, Daae simply could not imagine herself being that devious at that age. Her head was in the clouds half the time.

Meg hated her with a passion now. Still, Daae wondered who could have done such a thing. She recalled the conversation with Carlotta...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_"Why? Why would someone drug me? It wasn't like I had a star role that everyone wanted!" Meg sobbed. _

_The maid felt her heart clench as she watch Meg cry. Madame Giry sighed._

_"Do not worry dear, I managed to convince the managers not to fire you. You will simply not be in this production."_

_"But I worked hard to be in this one!" _

_"It is a small role. It is hardly worth the effort to fight the managers over it."_

_"Bu-"_

_"Quiet, Meg. I do not understand why you care about this role so much. Next time you need to be more careful about what you are drinking! This conversation is over." _

_The ballet instructor took her daughter off the stage._

_Carlotta snorted as she stood next to Daae. The brunette frowned at her._

_"Why are you laughing?!" The fiery haired woman raised an eyebrow._

_"She deserved it." The maid widened her eyes._

_"What?! In what way did she deserve it?!"_

_Confusion took over the ex-diva's face._

_"Did you not hate her?"_

_"No! We may not have the best relationship, but I want her to be happy! I would never wish pain on her."_

_"O-oh."_

_"Damn it. I wonder who would have done such a thing?"_

_Carlotta shifted uncomfortably._

_"Um, well. Who knows?"_

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Now that Daae thought about it, Carlotta did acted strangely in that conversation. Maybe sheknew who did it! It has been several months since the incident though, so it would be odd to ask her now...

Enough of these thoughts! She came to this room to practice. The more her voice gets better, the sooner she can leave and stop being a burden to everyone. It was the opening night to Hannibal after all and there was plenty of time to practice without outside disturbances. Or was. Daae glanced at the clock. It might be over now. She missed her opportunity.

Never mind. She will practice for thirty more minutes then. It has been a long night after all. Maybe she will sing one of the songs from Hannibal. It _was_ the opening night, the night where she originally made her debut...

Daae opened her mouth and sang as the memories consumed her.

She watched as the films of her other life played before her. No, not watched. She was reliving them. For the first time in many years, Daae felt tears flowing out from her eyes. She remembered of a time where everyone was still alive. When she still had enough light inside of her to believe in angels. Back before she knew what darkness was.

When she felt the last note escaped from her lips she collapsed against the piano. Daae was exhausted. She hadn't sung like that for a long time. Even as a Visountesse she didn't. The last time she sung with such emotion was back...when Erik was alive.

"Brava, brava. Bravissima."

Fantastic. She had spent so much time in her memories that she was now imagining his voice. And was that someone clapping? God, she was more desperate than she thought. She got up from the piano bench and froze.

Erik Destler was standing in the doorway.

* * *

...and finished! With a cliff hanger! Muhahahaha!


	6. Chapter 6

Natasha smiled and bowed as the flowers gathered at her feet. Applause echoed around the auditorium. Her dress gleamed brilliantly in the spotlight, giving her the appearance of a majestic swan.

She basked in the cheers of her adoring fans. Her life was perfect.

Although her family was high up in Parisian society, her father allowed her to pursue her dreams of a performing career. After all, anything his precious daughter wanted, she got. He could never deny her anything.

As a result, she wasn't used to being denied or disagreed with. When she does get faced with opposition, however, Natasha had the tendencies to get angry in an explosive manner. Which made her feel even worse because she was a _lady_.

Women from high classes were not supposed to be passionate. They were instead expected to wear the mask of cool indifference.

Her smile faltered a bit when she thought back to many months ago when a maid pointed out the crack in her mask. She had worked very hard to be the ice queen, but the brunette somehow managed to act more of a noble than she!

It frustrated her to no point and thus she had set out to ruin the maid's reputation in order to wipe off that condescending smirk off her face. Granted, she didn't have much of a reputation in the first place, but the point was to get her off her high horse. It wasn't like she was a Viscountesse after all.

As Natasha got off the stage, she saw her lover. Erik stood there with a bouquet of pink roses. She grinned gleefully and kissed him. He kissed her back and they stood there for several minutes. After waiting for her breathing to return to normal, she stepped away and asked the question she wanted to ask him all night long.

"Did I do well tonight?" Her heart pounded as she awaited her answer. He glanced at her with his amber eyes.

"There were quite a few issues with your performance."

Natasha cringed as he continued.

"I still do not understand why you cannot sing with more emotion even though you understand what the music asks for. Also, you made the same mistakes that I mentioned to you about earlier." as if just realizing how harsh he sounded, he included a praise as an afterthought."Other than that, you did fine."

Her heart fell at his reply. Erik Destler was a hard man to please when it came to music.

Perhaps that was why she was so fascinated with him. While she was indifferent to the numerous compliments of her father or suitors, she took each one that Erik has ever given to her and memorized them.

Unlike many of her previous paramours, Erik never filled her ears with sweet nothings and he was a difficult man to obtain. She actually had to work hard to get him and it took her three years. It was a very painful three years as she watched to go from one woman to another. It wasn't until Natasha focused all of her efforts into singing and became Prima Donna that he finally noticed her. When the man asked her to be his lover, she thought she would die from the happiness.

She looked up at him with apparent adoration in her eyes as they walked through the opera house. Yes, this was the only man that she wished to be with even thirty years from now. Natasha was the second longest woman he has been with after all. He will be forever hers soon enough.

Suddenly, Erik stopped as they neared the practice area. The dark haired woman frowned.

"What is wrong, darling?" she asked.

"Hmm...Someone is singing."

Natasha listened carefully and heard what he was referring to. The sound was very unclear, but it appeared to be someone singing her final song in Hannibal!

"Ha! How silly. It must be a chorus girl trying to imagine she is Prima Donna."

Destler did not respond and continued to stare in the direction of the practice rooms. The diva felt uneasiness steal into her heart and she tugged on his sleeve. He woke up from the trance and frowned.

"It is getting fairly late. Whoever is singing may get locked in. I will get the singer. Natasha, you can wait outside for me if you wish." The man swiftly walked towards the practice area.

The beauty, feeling a bit fearful, followed him.

"No, it is all right love. I will go with you." she clutched his arm and they continued to move closer to the source.

As the sound became clearer, the more dazed Natasha became. She felt like she was in a dream, or perhaps a nightmare.

The unearthly voice rang all around the two. Music poured into her ears and she felt almost addicted to it. The sound was so lovely and pure, that Natasha could lose herself in the divine melody.

Yet, it was also terrible.

This mysterious singer had sung the piece so differently that Natasha wondered how she could have even recognized the melody. Although the piece was about a farewell, it still had warmth to it. It was about cherishing the memories the two characters had shared, not focused on the sadness or tragedy of it all.

The voice that surrounded them was trenched in despair. The sound was almost like an angel who had fallen from heaven. It sounded very lonely.

And yet, it still drew them in like a siren's song.

The couple finally reached where the hidden practice room lay. Natasha looked at it in wonder. It was far from the other rooms and was partly covered by curtains. Natasha snapped out of her dream state and furrowed her eyebrows.

_I have never noticed that room before._

She looked up at Erik and saw that he was still in a trance. An enraptured expression covered his face and he was smiling gently.

Her heart clenched.

Natasha had never seen him smile like that in all of the time that she had known him.

_A siren's song._

The dark haired beauty felt fear slip into her mind and she panicked. She tried to stop him as he drew away the curtains, but it was too late. Her eyes widened at the sight.

_The maid?!_

The little filth was the one who was singing! Natasha felt bile rise up in her throat as she remembered thinking that the singing had been wonderful. How could she have ever thought that?!

She tugged on Erik's sleeve again, but he did not move. All he did was stare intently at the young brunette in the window.

Then, to her greater horror, he silently opened the door and took a step into the small room. The stupid maid still did not notice them.

As the last note escaped from her lips, the brunette collapsed against the piano as if she had poured all of her soul into the music and was now dead.

_I hope she is._

To her surprise, her paramour shattered the silence with words that seared her heart.

"Brava, brava. Bravissima."

As the pain faded, Natasha could feel jealousy clouding her mind. Those were the words that _she_ deserved, not that low class bitch!

As he started to clap, the maid took no notice of them.

_Did she lose all of her senses since the last time we spoke?_

Her theory was proven wrong when the young woman stood up and turned. Her eyes widened and she paled as if she had seen a phantom.

Natasha tensed as the maid's brown eyes met Erik's amber ones. Those two stared at each other for what felt like hours to her, but was most likely seconds in reality. Anger flared up in her body.

"Maid! These practice rooms are reserved for _singers_. You are not allowed in here! Get out now!"

The brunette flinched and stammered.

"O-oh. My apologies. I will leave now." she bowed down her head and tried to disappear from the room, but Erik blocked the entrance. He frowned.

"You are a maid?" his beautiful voice echoed around the small room. He seemed to have no recollection of their earlier meeting.

The maid looked down and nodded. An expression that Natasha could not recognize flitted across his face.

"What is your name?"

"Christine Daae, monsieur." the young brunette answered meekly. The woman looked terrified.

Natasha raised an eyebrow. What was she so nervous? Months ago, this maid had the nerve to act like she was the one who was an elite towards Natasha, _the Prima Donna_, and now she is acting like a mouse!

Deciding that she had enough, Natasha clung to Erik's back and began to whine.

"Darling, I'm tired. Let's leave. Don't I deserve an award? I did just sing an entire opera as the leading lady and had a standing ovation for it." That part was for the maid.

_I have an actual career. You do not._

She smirked and felt a little bit better. Erik finally tore his eyes away from the maid and turned his head to glance down at her.

"In a moment, Natasha. Do you wish to wait outside? I will be there in several minutes."

"No! I want to go _now_!" the beauty felt her control slipping.

The man sighed in annoyance. He looked back at the brunette.

"Mademoiselle Daae, it was a pleasure to hear you sing. Do you have a music teacher perchance?"

"N-no."

"Then perhaps I can help you. There can be some improvements that can be made. While your rendition was beautiful, the music is still too advance for you and your voice cannot reach some of the notes. There were also some issues with the emotions..."

The maid simply nodded.

"I-I know, monsieur. I am still working on my voice and I was feeling very-." Daae abruptly stopped. Erik nodded as if he understood her.

"If you would allow me to be your teacher, Mademoiselle Daae, I believe we could improve your voice much faster."

The maid gripped her hands tightly. "I cannot accept. Thank you for your offer though. You have my upmost gratitude for your kindness."

_Thank God._

Natasha silently gave a sigh of relief. She glanced over to Erik and hated what she saw.

Frustration seeped into his being.

"You do not wish to improve your voice? A talent is a precious thing, Mademoiselle Daae. And you would rather have it waste away? That makes you very undeserving and worthless." he stated coldly.

Fury colored the maid's eyes.

"Monsieur, you are incredibly arrogant. Yes, I understand you are a famous composer here, but you are not a necessary component for any musician to have in order to become better. I am not planning on wasting my talent away, I simply believe that you would not be a wise choice for a music tutor."

_The nerve!_

Natasha could not believe how rude this maid was being! Erik had a different reaction.

He was surprised by her sudden fire.

"Is that so? What are your reasons then?" he inquired.

Daae frowned as she tried to make up some fake excuses on the spot. It wasn't like she could tell him the truth after all.

"I have several reasons why I cannot accept. First, although you do make a good composer, I am not sure if that would translate to teaching. I also do not know you very well. You have quite a reputation among the ladies and I am not very comfortable about that. Plus, I have no money to pay you."

"She said she doesn't want your help! Let's go!" Natasha whined.

Destler was too focused on the girl before him to notice. The gears in his mind were turning.

"If you do not want a music teacher, then what about a music supporter? As Natasha had mentioned earlier, these practice rooms are only for the musicians here. My home has an excellent piano and various other tools that you can use to improve your voice. You would not need to pay a penny. Also, you shouldn't put so much stock in those rumors. Yes, I may have had quite a few women before, but I have never had more than one at once. I am still with Natasha and I have no plans on cheating on her."

The beauty beside him felt her heart swell at his ending statement. She smirked at the maid, but she took no notice. The brunette looked down at the ground in hard contemplation.

"I...I would not be interfering in your life if I accept, will I?"

The man gave her an odd look at the question.

"No, you would not bother me at all. Even if I was working at home you would not be an interference. I have more than one piano and I do not mind a little music when I am doing other things."

Daae sighed.

"Then I accept, Monsieur Destler." Erik grinned.

"I am glad to be of service. Here is my card then." the maid accepted his card and smiled back.

"Thank you very much. Farewell Monsieur Destler. Bye Natasha." Erik let her by and watched her as she disappeared down the hall.

Natasha glared at her retreating form. That maid still had no respect for her! Several months ago she called her Madame, but now she was not even bothering.

"Let us go before it is too late." Erik swiftly took her arm and walked towards the entrance of the opera house.

Natasha still felt very uneasy about all of this. She had taken notice when Erik had invited that low class woman to his house. Natasha had not admonished her love for doing such a thing though, in fear that he may actually get too annoyed by her. He did say he had no plans on betraying her after all.

She will have to get rid of that maid somehow...  
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Daae wanted to bang her head against the nearest wall. Why did she agree?! What happened with not getting involved?

She sighed as she helped lock the doors of the Opera Populaire.

But, it wasn't like she was getting _too_ involved. She will simply go to his house to practice. If Erik was anything like his counterpart, he would most likely not be there a lot. Unless his home under the opera house again. Which would be ridiculous since he has no reason to hide away now.

Daae walked around distractedly as she collected the clutter that the audience had left behind when she accidentally ran into a person.

Or rather two people.

"Brother, your behavior today was appalling! Monsieur Destler is _your_ friend, not mine. Yet I'm the one who had paid any attention to the performance!" Raoul grumbled as he dragged Phillip along with him.

"Shut up. You are far too loud." he slurred.

"God! And to think you were lecturing me the other day about proper etiquette."

As they bumped into the maid, the Vicomte looked up sheepishly.

"Ah! Um, hello. My apologizes for bumping into you Mademoiselle. Please don't tell anyone about this, he is usually more...proper."

"Hey, you are very cute. What is your name, pet?" the Comte suddenly seemed more aware as he questioned her.

Raoul groaned.

"Who am I kidding? He is usually like this."

Daae smiled back at him sympathetically.

"I know what it's like. I had to take care of someone who had similar characteristics."

"Whoever this person was, I do not think he is as handsome as me, love. So, why don't you give me a chance?" the drunk man winked at her.

"Ignore him. He is out of his mind right now. Anyway, my name is Raoul de Chagny and this basket case is my brother Phillip. I'd shake your hand, but my hands are a bit full."

Daae chuckled.

"My name is Christine. Do you want some help, monsieur?"

"Oh. No, it is fine. I can't possibly request a lady to help drag my intoxicated brother out."

"No, I will help. The man seems heavy." she came over and helped him lift his brother up.

"I-" Raoul stopped as he saw her determined glare. He knew he probably would not be able to change her mind. "All right, then. You have my sincerest gratitude."

"Very well, let's go."

After what felt like hours, they finally managed to reach the entrance of Opera Populaire. She let go of Phillip as the driver helped him in. Raoul turned to Daae.

"Thank you so much for your help, Mademoiselle Christine. Do you want some cash for your tro-"

"No, I do not. I helped because you seemed to have need of it, nothing more."

Raoul stared at her for a bit. Daae wondered if she said something wrong. Then he spoke.

"Well, that was very kind of you then. Again, thank you. You work here correct? Do you mind if I come visit you sometime?"

"Oh, you don't need to."

"But, I insist. I am a man of honor and I hope to be your friend. There are no issues with being friends, right?"

Daae considered his offer and slowly nodded.

"If that is what you wish, monsieur."

"Please call me Raoul, Christine." He smiled as he waved her goodbye.

Daae simply stood there on the dark sidewalk. A convoluted mess of emotions swirled inside her chest.  
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Standing besides a wall, a man covered with shadows watched the young woman. His cold eyes observed as the brunette's emotions fluttered across her face. A malicious grin formed on his lips.

_"Let the opera begin...Little Christine."_

* * *

Dum dum dum! Wow, I've been updating a lot lately. I haven't been editing them though. So please don't yell at me for my numerous mistakes. _ Anyway, I decided to have a parallel between this universe and the original one. Christine meets Erik and Raoul on the opening night of Hannibal. This is drawing from the ALW's version of course.

Next time there will be more interactions between Erik and Christine.


	7. Chapter 7

"God, my head still hurts and it's the middle of the afternoon!" complained Phillip.

"That's what you get for not taking care of yourself. Now what will your friend say?"

"We are business partners, not friends Raoul. It'd be pretty damn obvious if we were friends. The media would be hounding us right now. The public likes to follow Erik like some adoring puppy for some reason."

"Not really. They are more like parasites who are looking for their next big meal." Erik commented as he came into the office.

"Could have had me fooled. You two act so chummy together. Not to mention similar. Sometimes I wonder if perhaps he is your brother instead of me. I don't understand how both of your lovers can stand to be around you two. You guys are jerks." the Vicomte concluded.

"How very sad. Does the little boy feel threatened that his brother might find my company more preferable?" Erik smirked and sat down at his desk.

"Oh, younger brother, you don't need to feel jealous. I will care for you no matter how many feminine qualities you have."

"Shut up, you fops! God, with you people around, it's no wonder the lower classes think we are so full of ourselves." Raoul complained.

"Now, if you are here to whine then you should step out of my office. We are not here to listen to your issues." Erik stated.

"I only came to drag my brother here. So, yes, I'll be leaving. And taking the carriage with me. Goodbye." the Vicomte swiftly left the room.

"Wait, how am I suppose to get ba-. You know what? Never mind. God, he could never take a joke." Phillip sighed and faced Erik. "So, have you looked at the paperwork for the music company?"

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"Shut up Christine. I don't want to talk to you." Meg whispered as she pushed her away. Daae stood there watching as she saw the ballerina quickly make an exit.

Daae sighed. She thought that receiving her anger was terrible, but this was much worse. The maid felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around.

"Hello, Christine," Raoul greeted.

"Monsieur de Chagny! What an unexpected surprise!"

He frowned.

"Please call me Raoul, it's only fair since I am calling you Christine."

"Very well then, Raoul. Why are you here?"

"I just dropped off my brother at his business partner's place. It was nearby, so I decided to swing by and see you. "

Daae furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

_Is that all?_

Although she felt rather flattered that he wanted to spend time with her, it made her wonder. Did he actually see her as a potential love interest? Or, more importantly, did he even remember their shared childhood? It was better to get these questions out of the way before they continued.

"Um, Raoul? I know I helped you with your brother two days ago, but surely that can't be the only reason why you wanted to spend time with me? Is there something you want?" the maid asked.

The Vicomte picked up the broom she had set aside and started to examine it.

"No, I wanted to be friends with you because you seem to be a good person, not just because I feel like I owe you or anything. I'm so very tired of the shallowness that Parisian society is based on. To be honest, you are the first person in a long time who have helped me without any hidden motives."

"So, you only want to be my friend?"

Raoul frowned in confusion before realization dawned in his eyes.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Did I give you the impression that I only wanted to be "friends" with you in order to...Oh, no I wasn't. I actually just wanted to be friends with you. Not that you're not beautiful or anything, but I am not planning to be in a relationship anytime soon."

"Really? Why?"

The Vicomte sighed.

"I was only half lying when I said Phillip wasn't always like this. He used to be a better person. When our father became ill, he lost himself. Before that, he still cared for the family very much and was proper. He used to harp on me about etiquette and how to look good in front of Parisian society. Now, he's become somewhat of a libertine. I made a promise to my father before he died to help Phillip take care of the family business."

Daae absorbed the information. Yes, she did notice how this Raoul seemed more tire and weary of the world then hers was.

He continued on.

"I don't want to be anything like my brother. If I decide to go into a relationship, it would be because I am very serious about the girl and have full intentions of marrying her. I want to devote a lot of time to her. Right now, with all the work I have to do, I can't do that. Once I get my brother to take over the whole family business, I will start looking for a relationship then."

The brunette smiled. He is still the same as ever. That only left only one question now.

"Thank you for clearing that up. Your notion of love is very sweet. Not very many people are so positive these days, they think that true love is a fairytale. Do you, perchance, have any fairytales from your childhood? Maybe of goblins or angels?"

Raoul put his hand under his chin as he thought.

"Hmmm...Yes, there was one that my friend's father used to tell us. It was about an angel of music and a girl named Lotte."

"Really? Who was this friend?"

"A nice little girl named..." he paused as he tried to search for the information. "Huh, that's strange. I can't remember her name. I do remember that the girl had the most beautiful voice though. I saved her red scarf from the sea. Her father was a good violinist. I still sometimes wonder whatever happened to them."

Daae felt herself choke up as she thought back to those innocent days.

_So, he remembers, but he doesn't realize who I am..._

_Should I tell him?_

As the brunette gazed carefully at the Vicomte, she decided perhaps not. He had enough on his plate right now without having to deal with long lost childhood sweethearts. Maybe later.

Daae smiled and they began talking of simpler subjects.

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Erik sighed as he leaned back on his chair. It has been a tiring day. Natasha is currently going through her third performance of Hannibal. He's just finished his work and couldn't go earlier. The dark haired beauty was furious at him.

_I've already watched two, what else does she expect?_

She was fairly high maintenance, but she was great in bed and knew many things about music. Also, she seemed genuinely in love with him. The others mostly wanted his fame or fortune.

Natasha was also the best singer he ever heard...until two days ago. He still couldn't believe that there was such hidden talents in a lowly maid. Her voice was divine. Erik replayed the music in his mind over and over.

_I feel as if I am already addicted._

Erik didn't think he was in love with her. At least, not yet. While she was very attractive, he knew next to nothing about her. But it didn't stop him from constantly thinking about the elusive maid.

_She hasn't stopped by yet._

Although he'd much rather be her music teacher, he could tell that she didn't want a tutor. He couldn't really understand, but it seemed like she had personal reasons.

But he couldn't let her go. Erik was obsessed with music, and letting such talent go to waste goes against his very being. Having her practice where he could hear her was the next best thing. He might even be able to slip in a lesson or two without her noticing. He already had plans.

...Which would all be a huge waste if she didn't show up.

_Is she still at the opera house?_

He picked up his coat and went out the door.

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Raoul had left thirty minutes ago. He and Daaé spent the whole afternoon talking. Nobody got on her case for not cleaning because, well, she was busy with the _Vicomte de Chagny._

It was strange to think that only two days ago she thought that she would never be close to them. Well, she was still in a rocky relationship with Meg, but at least her relationship with Erik and Raoul was better.

Just as she started to think about Erik, he suddenly appeared before her. She almost dropped her broom.

"Monsieur Destler! Um, hello. What are you doing here? The performance ended twenty minutes ago. Shouldn't you be with Natasha?"

The man raised an eyebrow.

"She is having dinner with her family. That is besides the point, Mademoiselle. Why have you not taken me up on my offer yet?"

Daaé frowned. "My apologies, I thought the offer was for after the performances of Hannibal are finished."

He gave her a cold glare.

"It was not."

"Oh. Well, I will come tomorrow then."

"You could come tonight. It might be better that way, then I could show you where it is and you don't need to ask for directions."

"Um-"

"Let us go." he held out his arm and Daae hesitantly accepted it. They both walked into the night.

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As the cool air surrounded them, Daae looked up at Erik.

_I had forgotten how tall he was._

The man nearly towered over her. For some reason, that comforted her. Maybe it was because it was night. Many terrifying things can happen during this time and Erik looked fairly imposing.

"-training?"

Daae was snapped out of her reverie as she noticed that Destler was talking to her.

"What?"

"I asked why did you stop your training?"

Daaé froze.

"What do you mean?"

He scoffed.

"I am not deaf. I know you had training before, probably many years ago, but you stopped. Why?"

Daaé felt like she couldn't breath. Images flashed before her eyes.

_Cold musty air._

_Underground lake._

_Dead yellow eyes watching her as she covered the body with dirt._

"...My music tutor died."

The man frowned.

"So?"

"H-he died and I couldn't have another teacher after that." she tried to keep her voice strong, but failed.

He put his hand on her shoulder and he gave the brunette a curious gaze.

"What was your relationship with this man?"

_Friend, guardian...romantic love interest?_

"I don't know." she answered truthfully.

"What happened?"

"I couldn't love him the way he wanted me to."

Confusion covered his face before realization dawned on him. Disgust seeped into his eyes.

Her heart pounded loudly.

_Does he recall?_

"Your teacher was a pedophile?!"

_What_?

And then Christine remembered. Right now she was eighteen.

_That's great. I just painted him a very disturbing picture of my past._

"My apologies. Is that why you didn't want another tutor? You were afraid of being..." he drifted off.

"I..." Daae had no clue whatsoever on how to explain.

She looked up at him and saw deep compassion in his amber eyes.

"You don't need to expand. I understand, but you do know you have nothing to fear from me, correct?"

She nodded mutely.

He looked like he wanted to say something more, but didn't quite know what else to say. They walked the rest of the trip in silence.

"Here is my house."

Daae looked up and saw a beautifully decorated building.

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...and done! More mysteries will come.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Hi! I noticed that I haven't done something yet, and that is to thank everyone for reviewing! Sorry, I really do apperciate the reviews and I do take them to heart and follow the advices people have given me. I just sort of space out sometimes.**** Special thanks goes to Toriana, RedDeathLvr, icanhearthedrums, and DeBlaere for giving a lot of reviews. Oh, and thanks to TheMaskedSoul for the advice about the names. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next part of the story!**

* * *

"This is amazing!" Daae gasped in wonder as she followed the tall man through the elegant hallways. Even back when Erik simply had an underground cave to live in he somehow managed to make it extraordinary. Now that he has less limitations with a house above ground...

"I take it that you find my dwelling very suitable?" Erik spoke with a hint of amusement mixed with pride.

"Well, you certainly have expensive tastes." she commented as she glanced at a vase that came from Roman times. That particular trait of his didn't come as any surprise for her though, the Erik she knew had the same preferences.

"I only take in the best." he stated.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "And it looks like someone has a competitive streak."

A light chuckle escaped his lips. "Not exactly, I really do like the finer things of life."  
That was very true, but something still felt off. Daae frowned as she glanced around her surroundings. From the red silk curtains to the artifacts on display, everything here was beautiful and expensive, but it somehow seemed more unnatural then the underground home the Erik she knew lived in. Both places had quite a few high priced items in them, but this place seemed to be _designed_ to flaunt...

"I suppose so. But aren't you overdoing it a little? It looks like you are hiding something."

Erik paused in his steps and Daae almost collided with him. The brunette looked up at the man, but could not see his expression.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh!" Daae stuttered. _What was she thinking when she said that aloud?_ "Sorry, I was not trying to be rude monsieur. Your home is very beautiful." she paused and then continued when she saw he was not going to move. "It's just..." she gestured helplessly around them. "It's very nice and all, but something about all of this is seems to be too _flaunting_. A bit unnatural, actually. It's as if you are trying distract others from the truth..."

He turned around and observed her with his cold amber eyes. Their eyes met and Daae stared back at him. Uneasiness crept into her mind. She couldn't make the storm of emotions that were in his eyes. Anger? Annoyance? Fear? He laughed.

"You have very good observation skills, mademoiselle." he spoke with an impressed tone. Daae relaxed a bit. Good, it looked like she didn't screw up too badly. Then he made his own observation. "You are very wary of others aren't you?"

Daae gave him a questioning glance. He continued.

"What made you automatically assume a secret is the reason for my decor? Most normal people would assume that I am just...insecure."

The brunette frowned at him. "But you would've done it in a more classy way if that was simply your goal." she said as she thought back to the first time she went down to Erik's lair. He had many more reasons to be insecure, but he still managed to make everything look enchanting despite dragging her down to what was essentially a tomb.

"You have that much confidence in me?" he seemed surprised.

"You are an artist aren't you? I could tell you worked on this house for a long time, the beautiful design reflects your work. But, the items that you have in here... A good number of them look like you just bought them because they were expensive."

"Hmm..." he replied. "Looks like I have quite the inspector on my hands." he joked as he tried to turn the subject away. "How on Earth did you manage to get such a skill?"

Daae noticed, but decided to go along anyway. She really shouldn't have been inquiring about him in the first place. "Well, I need some sort of a hobby. Cleaning all day can be very boring. And besides, isn't being nosy a typical trait of a maid?"

Erik chuckled a bit. "You seem very similar to a friend of mine. He also had a fondness of being far too inquisitive for his own good." he then smiled, but Daae could feel that it was tight and wary.

_God, did I piss him off after all?_

"Well, that is what friends do. They make sure everything is fine with each other, even if it means being a little nosy." she said carefully.

"Ha, I suppose so." Erik stopped at a door with a design of leaves carved onto it and opened it. He gestured her inside.

"Welcome to the seat of sweet music's throne."

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Erik stood in his office as the sunlight from his windows streamed in. He watched as the people below went on with their daily morning routines. Although it has been many hours since then, his mind kept going back to his second meeting with Daae. He smiled fondly as he thought of her face when she saw the music room.

He could tell that she too was an avid worshipper of music, if her reaction to his music room was anything to go by. But, a certain sadness seemed to flicker in her eyes as she looked around. Maybe she was remembering her pedophilloic music teacher?

He shuddered and quickly moved on to another train of thought. She was also very observant. The first woman he has ever met who seemed to be able to understand him this quickly. He wasn't sure how to feel about it. Erik was a bit uneasy for sure. He was man who was very fond of being kept as a mystery, people knowing too much about him made him uncomfortable.

Still, she didn't inquire any further after he showed her around his room. It was very late at night, so Daaé only sang a little before he had to walk her back home. But it was worth it. Her voice was very beautiful despite not having much practice.

He was pulled out of his reverie when he heard the bells tolling from his clock. A small memory flashed before him.

_"...that is what friends do. They make sure everything is fine with each other, even if it means being a little nosy."_

Hmm...Maybe he should go check to see how the Persian is doing.

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Today was Daae's day off and she had plans of taking full advantage of it. After all, she has been working a lot and being constantly ignored by Meg was making her very stressed. She sighed contentedly as she ate her breakfast at a leisurely pace. Then her peace was shattered when a familiar voice spoke up.

"Hello Miss Daae, how have you been?"

The brunette frowned and glanced around to see where he was. Then she looked down and saw that he was in the reflection of her glass cup.

"Wait, could you see from any reflected surface?" she nervously asked.

"Yes." the winged man bluntly replied.

"That is..." _very terrifying_. But she couldn't spit it out. The man gave her a bored expression.

"I do not use it for anything inappropriate, if that is what you are suggesting, Miss Daaé." he said in a pointed tone. "Anyway, have you been talking with any of the others?"

"I've been talking to Raoul and Erik if that was what you meant."

"And?"

"Why do you want to know?" the brunette asked suspiciously.

He sighed. "I helped bring you here, of course I'd want to know how you have been progressing in your previous relationships."

"Hmm...I suppose you would." Daae said cautiously. "I am friends with Raoul right now. With Erik, we are more like friendly acquaintances."

The man looked down as he thought of something. "Are you planning to repeat your relationship with de Chagny?"

Daae paused and carefully considered his question. "Maybe. Not anytime soon though. He's busy and I want to work on my career. After all, it would be kind of boring if everything was the same."

"And what of Erik?"

Daae furrowed her eyebrows. "I told you already, he has a paramour and we are more like friendly acquaintances."

"Yes, but I could tell you do not think his current lover is suited to him."

The brunette glared at the reflection. "That doesn't mean I am going to try and steal him. He's a grown man. If he wants to be with that shallow woman, he can. And, to be honest, he really could have ended up with someone much worse." she said and snuffed out the flame of jealousy that she felt rise in her chest.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am positively sure!"

The man put his hands up. "No need to become defensive, Miss Daae." he shrugged. "Besides the point, he could also help you with your career."

The brunette frowned. "No, absolutely not. I know he may be different now, but I don't want to have anyone controlling my career."

"But, you are seeking help from him with your music."

"Not really, I am just using his resources. He's not helping me with the actual music aspect." Daae resolutely stated.

The winged man cocked an eyebrow. "If you say so, Miss Daae."

"Yes, I mean it." she said coldly. "Now, if you do not mind, I would like to finish my breakfast with no "angels" peering over my shoulder."

"Very well then, see you later, Miss Daae." he nodded his head and vanished.

The brunette looked down at her plate and sighed.

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Erik panted as he dogged another arrow. Inside, he was seething in anger. _Why_ did he decide to visit Nadir again? Oh yes, he was feeling sentimental! And he utterly forgot how much of a paranoid mess the Persian was.

He pushed himself against the wall of the stone cavern and found the hidden button. The arrows stopped shooting and he began making faster pace down the dark cave. The air was musty and cold.

While he did have a fondness for darkness and didn't have much trouble navigating due to his glowing eyes (he still didn't know how his eyes did that), this was a bit much. He couldn't understand why _anyone_ would want to live in an underground house. Not unless they were an overly dramatic human like Nadir was.

_Though, if I was that crazy, I would have gone all the way and had the house situated under the Opera Populaire._

From what he have seen of the blueprints, someone _could_ theoretically have a house built there _and_ with a nice underground lake to boot. After all, if he were going to be dramatic, he might as well be amusing about it. But no, Nadir couldn't even do _insanity_ correctly. The Persian would have told him that it would be too ridiculous, even if the man himself lived in a stupid cave with hundreds of traps in it.

As he went further down in the cave, a light began to appear. He was getting closer to Nadir's house. Erik walked carefully around the numerous hidden murdering devices and when he came within fifteen feet of the moderately sized cabin, he picked up a few pebbles on the ground and started throwing them at the door.

Although there had been many dangerous traps on the way, the most terrifying ones are near the entrance of the house. Through his sensitive ears he could hear the shuffling of footsteps coming from inside the house. After about ten minutes of clicks, which signified Nadir turning off the traps, the door opened and a dark skinned man stood in the entrance.

"Hello, friend. Come on in." he gestured him over and Erik continued to walk warily over into his house. After the door closed after him, Erik gave a sigh of relief.

"Good god, you dunce! What is with the intense amount of traps you have around? I think there is even more than last time I came!" Erik berated him.

Nadir shrugged. "Constant vigilance, my friend, is what helped me survive for this long."

"Too much of anything, can also lead to an early demise." Erik stated and sat down on his couch. "Not that you'd heed my warning, of course. I still have no clue why I bother coming out here to see you."

The Persian let out a hearty chuckle. "Don't need to be so upset, Erik. If the situations were reversed, _I'd_ come visit you daily at your underground home. Although, knowing you and your inability to keep still, I would probably have to go and stop whatever overly theatrical hobbies you take up at the same time."

"Yes, because spending all your time making traps is not considered dramatic at all."

"Excuse me, but I also spend time with my wife." Nadir retorted. Erik raised an eyebrow.

"Speaking of your wife, where is Rookheeya by the way?"

"Right over here." spoke a feminine voice. Both men turned and saw the lady descend from the steps. Her long ebony hair brushed past her shoulders and she wore a simple western dress. She came next to Nadir and put her hands on her hips. "And I also agree with Erik, you need a new hobby. I think staying here day and night is driving us both crazy."

"But the Shah's men-" Nadir spoke before his wife put her finger on his lips.

"Have moved to England and we should relax while we can. In fact, let us go out right now. Erik hasn't visited us in awhile after all."

Nadir sighed and conceded. "Very well, I suppose we can walk outside for a bit." he turned to Erik. "Is La Coupole still opened?"

"Yes."

"Alright, let us go." he went and grabbed his coat and went into the kitchen to pull a lever. A passage way opened up next to the sink and he gestured them over. Erik looked at him incredulously.

"There was a faster way to come here and you never told me?"

Nadir shrugged. "It slipped my mind."

"God, one of these days I need to create a torture chamber so I can throw you in it!"

The Persian just gave him an amused look and led his wife into the dark passage.

Erik began making plans as he followed them out.  
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After eating her breakfast, Daae decided to head out and look around. Her voice has been getting better, but it was still not good enough to audition at an opera house. She was considering taking a part time job singing at a restaurant. It would be a lot better than her current occupation. Plus, it might help with her career and she could find more connections to other places.

The plans of leaving the Opera Populaire were still on the table. Despite the improving relationships with Erik and Raoul, the fact that she was a maid would still prove hard for her to get a role. Added to the fact that now, even if she did get a role, people would be accusing her of getting it because of her "sleeping around". Natasha really did a number on her reputation. It would easier to go to a different opera house at this rate.

The moment Daae left the house, a cold chill went up her spine and she felt as if there was someone breathing on her neck. She turned around quickly, but there was no one there. She frowned and continued on, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. The feeling deepened as she got nearer and nearer to her first destination. When she came to the front of the restaurant, her stomach became so queasy that she felt like she was going to throw up at any moment. She could see the darkness swirl at the edges of her vision.

Daae couldn't go look at the possible vocal positions in her current condition. Instead, she went to the side of the restaurant and leaned against the brick wall. She closed her eyes and tried to force the nausea away. But it made her feel worse and worse instead. The air around her became frigid. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm.

"Do you want a jacket, dear little Christine?"

Her eyes fluttered opened and she saw a man with long crooked teeth and putrid yellow eyes standing before her. Dark human shapes stood behind him. Although she couldn't recall ever meeting him before, fear consumed her whole being. She screamed.

And immediately she noticed that there was a strange quality to the sound. As if it was being warped...She glanced away from the dark man and saw that there was nothing moving. The other pedestrians who were walking around were all frozen in motion. Birds were paused in mid-flight. The air around her was frozen.

Daae ran.

She ran from the side to the restaurant and onto the streets. The brunette did not bother to look back to see if the dark man had followed her. She ran for many blocks before her legs began to protest and her lungs screamed for air. Daae slowly stopped at a random alleyway and collapsed against the wall. She could feel the air become colder again and she looked up to see the same man standing before her.

She could feel herself panicking and forced herself to take deep breaths. After a minute, Daae clenched her hands and turned her fear into anger.

"What the hell do you want?!" she angrily shouted. The man grinned in amusement and the human shadows laughed.

**"Aww. Is the little ex-Viscountesse scared?"**

**"Well, she should be. Master can be very frightening when someone breaks the rules."**

**"Tsk, tsk. How pathetic."**

The dark man scowled and waved them away. "Silence! I do not need your inputs right now!" the shadows cowered for a moment before slinking into the corners. The man turned back to Daae and gave a small bow. "My apologies, little Christine, they can be so noisy at times."

Daae continued to glare at him. "Who are you? What is going on?"

The man let out a dark chuckle. "Me? My name is Louis. What is going on? Why, my dear Christine, you are what is happening. You are the only one who remembers everything."

Daaé narrowed her eyes. It looks like this Louis knows something about her deal with the winged man. "So? What does that have to do with anything?"

Louis tiled his head. "It's a very important detail, little Christine. I suggest you remember and ask that brat about it. Make sure he gives you a blood oath before you do, because the insect is also very manipulative."

"Why should I trust you?"

He gave a small shrug. "Because your soul depends on it."

Daaé watched him carefully. "Care to explain?"

"You are a clever woman, dear Christine. Surely you have connected the pieces already? Is there anything you noticed about this timeline?"

"There have been some changes." Daaé slowly replied.

"All of which were made before you ever came. Didn't you find that a bit odd?"

"Well, yes..."

"That's because you are not the only person he has offered the contract to."

"What?" Daaé asked in shock.

"He has brought in others before you in order to change this timeline. To save the soul of the person he cares dearly. But, now you are the only one left now..."

The gears of her mind were turning as she made the connections. Does this mean that the winged man had plans of getting rid of her once she has made her changes?

"Do not make the mistake of assuming for one moment that he has your best interests at heart. He's been using so many others to try and control this timeline. You are simply the latest in his line of manipulation." Louis stated.

"I..." her mind was frantically working. "Why are you telling me all of this? Surely it cannot simply be because you are generous?" she inquired.

He looked down at her with his putrid eyes for a moment and laughed. The sound made her skin crawl. "Ah, I can see why little Erik had such a fondness for you. Quite a spitfire, aren't you dear Christine?" he came closer and reached out to caress her cheek. The brunette shuddered in revulsion.

"Get away from me!" she said and swatted at his hand. Daae tried to move away from the man, but Louis pinned her against the wall.

"You don't have to be so afraid, little Christine." he spoke in an amused tone.

"Leave her alone, you disgusting insect!"

They both turned to see Erik standing at the end of the alleyway.

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"And is there anything you would like to drink, Monsieur?" asked the waiter.

"Just water please." he politely replied and glanced back down at the menu. Nadir and Rookheeya sat across from him. As they sat there in silence, Rookheeya decided to speak up.

"So, Erik, how have you been?"

"Fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. I've composed several new pieces and am looking into a new music company. We are performing Faust next."

Rookheeya smiled. "Are you going to audition for one of the roles?"

Erik shook his head resolutely. "No, absolutely not. You do remember what my voice can do to people, correct?"

Nadir frowned. "As long as you just sing and don't give out any orders, everything should be just fine."

"Except they will all be in trances as they leave the theater."

"But Erik, it usually wears off within a few minutes after you stop." Rookheeya reminded him.

"No, just no." he stated.

Nadir glanced at the younger man and decided to change the subject. "So, how is your relationship going with Natasha?"

Erik sighed. "She's the same as usual, although, she is becoming more attached lately."

Rookheeya furrowed her eyebrows. "Do you like this girl, Erik?"

Erik looked at her quizzically. "Yes, of course I do. Why else would I be courting her?"

"Well, let's be honest here. About 99% of all the lovers you have ever been with were mostly because you appreciated their "bed habits"." she stated bluntly.

"Pardon me, but I also have an appreciation of musical talents." he said.

"That too, but can you tell me what parts of her actual _personality_ do you appreciate?"

"I-" the young man started and paused."She really seems to love me..."

She raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"That is important!"

"Yes, it is." she conceded. "But love can be harmful if it is only one sided."

"I do care about her."

"But if you don't _love_ her then it would be better to let her go. She should find someone who can love her fully." she stated.

Erik looked away and sighed. "This is probably the closest I could ever get to loving another person since Luciana."

Nadir cocked an eyebrow and scoffed. "Young people, honestly! Just because that relationship ended terribly doesn't mean it's the end. If you just started to look past the surfaces, I think you can find someone you truly love."

"I am not that young, Daroga."

"You might as well be." Nadir shot back.

Erik was about to speak, but was stopped as the waiter came by to collect their orders.

"Hello, so what would you li-" the man stood there with his mouth opened.

Erik frowned. "Excuse me, but is something the matter?"

The man continued to stand there silently.

"Nadir, Rookheeya, should we call the-" he paused as he glanced back and saw that they were still as statues. He got up and waved his hand right in front of Nadir's face. The Persian was not breathing. Erik looked around and saw nobody in the restaurant was moving. Everything was frozen.

_What is going on?_

He moved away from his table and walked onto the street. The same phenomena was occurring here as well. The utter silence was beginning to unnerve him. Then something shattered the silence.

He could hear someone running. Erik tried to follow the sounds, but they abruptly stopped after a few minutes. He furrowed his eyebrows as he looked around the buildings to find the source. As he passed an alleyway, he could hear a woman scream.

"Get away from me!"

His eyes widened. Was that Daae? He went into the alleyway and was met with the sight of a tall shadowed man pining the brunette against the wall. He had a cold smile on his face.

"You don't have to be so afraid, little Christine." he spoke in a vile tone as he caressed her cheek.

Fury engulfed Erik's entire being. And, before he could even think, he shouted.

"Leave her alone, you disgusting insect!"

They both turned to him. Shock was evident on Daae's face. As for the other, he just seemed mildly surprised.

"Ah, trying to be the knight in shining armor this time around, little Erik?" he said and released the brunette. She moved away from the strange man quickly and towards Erik.

Erik paused. "How do you know my name?"

The man chuckled. "Of course I know your name, little Erik. I know a lot about you. I was even there at your birth. In fact, I am a friend of your mother's."

Erik narrowed his eyes at him. "You lie."

The man tilted his head and moved towards them. Erik swiftly grabbed Daae and moved her behind him. His putrid yellow eyes watched them with an unrecognizable emotion.

"Your mother's name is Madeline. Your father's is Peter. You never had the chance to know him because he died right before you were born. Your mother, on the other hand, you wished you never knew her at all. Despite what you try to depict to the public you, in fact, hate your mother. Although she dotes and brags about you all the time, you can tell she is very shallow. It's almost as if she sees you as some sort of prize winning horse." he paused for a moment as he thought of something. "In fact, if you were ever born hideous, she would have probably abused you and spit on you for every second of the day..."

Erik clenched his hands tightly as the pain seared him. He couldn't say a word. _Who was this man?_

"Shut up!" the voice beside him shouted. He turned his head and saw the maid stand next to him with fire in her eyes.

"Stop prying into his life!" she took a breath. "You have done what you have wanted, correct? So, you should leave. Now." she ordered him.

The strange man watched her with something akin to pride in his eyes. "You have a good taste in women, little Erik." he gave a short bow and grinned. "I will see you two later." the dark man dissipated into the shadows and time started moving forward again. The sounds of life surrounded them as the two stood there in the empty alleyway.


End file.
